THE University of Newcastle has climbed five spots in the QS World University Rankings 2023, which Vice Chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky AO said demonstrates its commitment to excellence.
"In just under 10 years we have climbed more than 100 places in our world ranking, despite fierce global competition," Professor Zelinsky said.
UON was 298th in 2014 and broke through the top 200 when it hit 197th for 2021 and 2022 before reaching 192nd for 2023.
"This ongoing improvement is a testament to the dedication and expertise of our staff and our absolute commitment to being a world-leading university for our regions.
"These results are confirmation of our unwavering focus on providing our students with an exceptional education and experience and leading critical research breakthroughs.
"The world-class education we provide is part of what sets our university apart and sees nearly 90 per cent of our undergraduates find employment within four months of graduating."
The QS World University Rankings review data from more than 1400 universities and gives each a score based on six indicators.
UON received an overall score of 44.5.
It received 29.1 for academic reputation, 25.7 for employer reputation, 86.7 for citations per faculty, 34.1 for the faculty student ratio, 17.6 for the international students ratio and 99.9 for the international faculty ratio.
The Newcastle Herald reported in April the National Tertiary Education Union Newcastle branch's concerns about data used to calculate UON's 2022 ranking, specifically the number of UON students.
The QS website listing for UON in August last year, shortly after the 2022 rankings were published, said it had a total of 12,358 full time equivalent students and 1135 full time equivalent faculty staff, equal to a ratio of 11.
The figure of 12,358 was around half the number published by at least three other sources, including UON's 2020 annual report. The ratio accounts for 20 per cent of a ranking.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped the rankings, followed by the University of Cambridge and Stanford University.
The QS announcement comes weeks after UON was named a partner for the Federal Government's Clean Energy and Recycling Trailblazer Universities Program.
Professor Zelinsky said this came "as we enter an exciting period that will see us working more closely with industry to become a real driving force in developing and implementing greener technologies around the world".
"It is the quality of our research and a focus on solving the world's greatest challenges that help us to become global leaders."
