Media Releases
'Life' boosts JCU rankings
August 17, 2013: - James Cook University is ranked as one of the top 150 universities in the world in the subject area of life and agriculture sciences by the authoritative Academic Ranking of World Universities for 2013.
Released this week, the overall rankings show JCU has consolidated its position in the top bracket of the 301-400 group of the best universities in the world and is ranked equal 10th among Australian institutions.
JCU Vice Chancellor Professor Sandra Harding said that while it was great that the University had affirmed its position in the Top 500, it was particularly pleasing to have moved to just outside the top 100 institutions in the world in life and agriculture sciences.
“This covers areas such as biology, biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, immunology, agricultural sciences, plant and animal science and ecology and the environment,” Professor Harding said.
“These are all areas of particular relevance to our strategic intent to create a brighter future for life in the tropics world-wide through graduates and discoveries that make a difference.
“To achieve the world status we now have as a regional institution is a tribute to the work over the years of the University’s academics.
“It is great that a regional university is sharing the status and prestige along with many much older, much bigger and more established universities,” Professor Harding said, “and it shows that a regional location is no bar to excellence.”
Nineteen Australian universities made the world list and JCU, Newcastle and Wollongong are the only ones outside the capital cities to have made it into the Top 500.
In Queensland, the University of Queensland was again ranked in the top 100 at 85 and Griffith University was in the same band as JCU.
The National University of Singapore was ranked in the 101-150 grouping on the overall world table and Nanyang Technological University was in the 201-300 group.
Published on August 15 by the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the ARWU has been recognized as the precursor of global university rankings and the most trustworthy list.
ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers the number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, the number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index - Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance.
More than 1200 universities are actually ranked by ARWU every year and the best 500 universities are published.
Issued: August 17, 2013
JCU Media: Jim O’Brien 07 4781 4822 or 0418 892449