Curtin University moves up in prestigious ARWU rankings

Miri – 20 August 2015 – Curtin University has again improved its rankings in the highly-regarded Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The university is now placed in the 201-300 band worldwide and number 11 in Australia.

In addition, Curtin is one of the top universities for Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences (101-150) and Subject ranking for Mathematics (151-200).

Curtin University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Terry said that Curtin’s jump in the 2015 rankings was a great result that reflected the University’s strengthening profile and reputation in a number of key areas such as Earth Sciences, led by nationally and internationally renowned researchers.

“Effective and proactive recruitment within our academic faculties, the focus on ensuring our staff are engaged in quality research, and the steady growth in scholarly journal articles over the last five years have all contributed to the University’s performance in the ARWU,” Professor Terry said

“The increase in Curtin’s research income, particularly through partnerships with industry, will support further expansion of our research activity, as will our focus on building deep partnerships with international collaborators and increasing our PhD cohort.”

Sharing Professor Terry’s sentiments, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Curtin Sarawak, Professor Jim Mienczakowski said Curtin’s latest rankings was welcome news to Curtin’s international campuses.

He said that, as Curtin’s largest international campus, Curtin Sarawak prides itself on offering identical academic programmes, an undifferentiated student learning experience, and a shared commitment to excellence in education and research as Curtin’s main campus in Perth.

“This means that the international recognition Curtin University has received through the various global university ranking systems in many respects also applies to Curtin Sarawak. It is testimony of the quality of not only our research, but also our academic programmes, teaching, graduate employability, internationalisation, facilities and management systems,” he remarked.

Like its Australian parent, Curtin Sarawak is also widely recognised for its practical research that is focused on solving timely, real-world problems. In recent years, its research activity has grown significantly, helping to drive Curtin’s rapid rise up the international university rankings.

Professor Mienczakowski said Curtin Sarawak continues to rapidly ramp up its already strong research capacities in its faculties, Curtin Sarawak Graduate School and Curtin Sarawak Research Institute.

This includes the development of an over RM50 million BioValley Research Centre in collaboration with the Sarawak state government and a new RM20 million Faculty of Engineering and Science building with facilities for teaching and postgraduate work to meet the particular research needs of government and local industry.

He added that Curtin Sarawak has in its own right gained recognition through its ratings in Malaysia’s SETARA, D-SETARA and MYRA rating systems. It is also one of only eight universities granted self-accreditation status by the Malaysian Ministry of Education.

The ARWU is widely recognised as the most relevant research-oriented university ranking system worldwide. It 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 selected by Thomson Reuters, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index – Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance of a university.

More than 1,200 universities are actually ranked by ARWU every year and the best 500 are published. The ARWU listing is released annually by Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Centre for World-Class Universities.

Curtin University in the top ranks of universities in the world.

Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry.

Curtin Sarawak Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Jim Mienczakowski.