It’s a boomer of a year for Australian unis on the international performance measures
Uni Melbourne is not just in the global top hundred on the Times Higher ranking released last night. And a top 50 spot does not impress at Parkville. The university is now 31st in the world, on this year’s list.
It’s a great result – but Vice Chancellor Duncan Maskell wonders whether this is as good as it will get.
“While the full impact of the pandemic on the University of Melbourne and our global peer institutions is largely unknown, it is likely that falls in revenue will have an impact on research outcomes,” he said yesterday.
Times Higher measures more than research but Professor Maskell’s focus is common, at least among vice chancellors and international student recruiters.
Which is why there was also quiet (up to a point) satisfaction with last month’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (CMM August 17). Seven Australian universities are in its global top 100. RMIT analyst, Angel Calderon suggested in CMM , that next year there could be one or two more.
“Overall, there are 34 out of 41 Australian universities ranked in the ARWU list of 1,000 institutions. This means that 83 per cent of Australian universities are ranked by the ARWU compared to 40 per cent for the United Kingdom and 7 per cent for the United States,” he adds.
But Professor Maskell is right in counselling caution. While no-one knows for sure what declines in international student fees will do to research output, Frank Larkins warns the COVID-19 collapse in international student revenues means Australian universities will have “several billions” less to spend on research, especially basic research.
And research rankings run on money. As Mr Calderon explains, “a key issue is sourcing a continuous flow of funds to support these endeavours.”