Professor Kirsten Benkendorff inspecting a mollusc in the National Marine Science Centre laboratories. Southern Cross University is now listed among the world's top 100 universities for ocean studies and research, according to the latest Shanghai Rankings.
The release of the 2022 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has elevated Oceanography at Southern Cross University to the 76-100 band in the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. With more than 10,000 universities in the world, it is effectively a top 1% result.
The Oceanography ranking represents a significant rise (from 101-150 band in 2021) and places Southern Cross as the best in Queensland, second in NSW and fourth overall in Australia.
The result for Nursing and Education is also outstanding. Nursing has jumped 50 places to be in the 101-150 band; while Education is now in the 301-400 band, after improving 100 places.
Vice Chancellor Professor Tyrone Carlin said the result represented not only the University's excellence in marine and ocean studies and research but a broader trajectory of improvement.
"The Shanghai Rankings show overall improvement for the University driven by our performance specifically in the subject areas of Oceanography, Nursing, Education, Earth Sciences and Environmental Science and Engineering," said Professor Carlin.
"It is deeply pleasing to see this level of global recognition for the consistently innovative work done by our academics and researchers."
Administered by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ARWU annually presents the world's top 1000 research universities based on transparent methodology and objective third-party data.
The 2022 rankings are a stellar performance for a regional university that was unranked just four years ago.
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Professor Mary Spongberg, said the latest rankings affirmed the University's longstanding reputation in marine research.
"We have some of the finest and most highly-regarded marine researchers and it is great to see our excellence in this field rewarded," she said.
Southern Cross University's ARWU subject rankings for 2022 include:
- Oceanography: top 76-100 universities globally
- Nursing: top 101-150
- Education: top 301-400
- Earth Sciences: top 301-400
- Environmental Science & Engineering: top 301-400
