Six Australian universities ranked in global top 100

CANBERRA: At least six Australian universities have been ranked in the world’s top 100 despite the significant impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the sector.

Times Higher Education on Thursday published its annual World University Rankings for 2022.

The University of Melbourne was the highest-ranked of the Australian contingent at 33 – down from 31 – followed by Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Queensland tied at 54, Monash University at 57, the University of Sydney at 58 and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) at 70.

All six in the top 100 are members of the elite Group of Eight (Go8), with the two remaining members – the University of Adelaide and University of Western Australia – ranking 111th and 132nd respectively.

“This is an outstanding result for Australia’s higher education sector at a time when our research has never been more needed as we continue to work through the Covid-19 pandemic,” Vicki Thomson, the chief executive of the Go8, said in a media release.

The result came after a devastating year for Australia’s higher education sector amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Peak body Universities Australia revealed in February that operating revenues across the industry fell by 4.9 percent – or 1.8 billion Australian dollars (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) – in 2020 after border closures crippled the lucrative international student market. About 17,300 positions at Australian universities were cut in 2020. (Xinhua)