RMIT takes giant leap forward in global rankings

RMIT has ranked 140th – a rise of 50 places since last year – in the latest QS World University Rankings, reflecting continued excellent performance on research impact, reputation and sustainability.

The esteemed QS rankings draw on objective research data and also surveyed input from governments, academics and employers globally.

Key to RMIT’s strong performance this year were improved ratings on academic reputation, research outputs and sustainability – a new category included for the first time this year – in which RMIT ranked 43rd globally and 4th in Australia.

This result reflects RMIT’s leadership in responding to environmental and social challenges globally and support of the United Nations’ sustainable development agenda. 

It follows the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings earlier this month, where RMIT was number one globally for its work to reduce inequalities, equal first in supporting decent work and economic growth, and equal second for partnering to achieve sustainable development goals.

For overall sustainable impact, the Times Higher Education ranked RMIT 7th out of 1,591 universities worldwide.

Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Alec Cameron said these results were exciting and demonstrated the success of RMIT's strategic agenda to strengthen research impact and advance sustainability towards an inclusive and resilient future.

“There is more to do each year, but the trajectory is very positive," he said.

"We will continue to bolster our reputation as a university that delivers excellent research and teaching and learning programs, and produces high quality, job-ready graduates that have the knowledge and skills to help shape the world around them."

"Our researchers, educators and professional staff have all contributed to our growing impact and our reputation as a leading university in Australia and the world," Professor Cameron said.

The University moved up this year’s QS rankings in the area of academic reputation, reflecting improved perception of academics around the world of the calibre of RMIT’s teaching and research, and in the category of citations per faculty, demonstrating the quality and impact of research produced.

^{Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Alec Cameron said it was an exciting result that demonstrated the success of RMIT's strategic agenda.}

This coincides with the University’s very strong performance in last week’s 2023 CWTS Leiden Ranking – which rates the world’s top research-intensive universities – coming 87th globally for the mean normalised citation score, up 41 places from last year, and 5th in Australia, up two places.

Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President (Research and Innovation), Professor Calum Drummond, said RMIT’s research outputs and outcomes continued to go from strength-to-strength each year.

“For close to a decade now we've had a deliberate ongoing strategy to increase the volume, quality, relevance, and translation of our research,” he said.

"We are seeing this manifest in the QS academic reputation and citation per faculty score improvements."