QUT has been named Australia’s best young university in the Times Higher Education rankings announced tonight (24 June 2020).
QUT was named 14th internationally in the rankings (up from 24 in 2019).
The Times Higher Education Young University Rankings list the world’s best universities that are 50 years old or younger. The universities are judged across all their core missions – teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook – to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available. The 2020 ranking includes 414 universities worldwide.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil said the achievement was testament to the hard work performed by the university’s dedicated teaching and research staff as well as an unwavering commitment to real-world values.
Professor Sheil said QUT’s ability to simulate industry conditions within both its facilities and its teaching programs ensured QUT’s graduates were job ready.
“Industry needs graduates who have the skills to step straight into the workforce, are creative thinkers and problem solvers, and these are hallmarks of graduates produced by QUT.
“We work with industry to ensure our teaching programs are as applicable to real-world working life as possible and are always thankful for the input industry representatives have into our teaching programs, many of whom are often QUT graduates themselves.
“For example, our partnership with BMW sees our students undertake internships in design in Germany while the company has also partnered with us to create a Design Academy here at QUT.
“Partnerships like this offer wonderful opportunities for our students, and examples abound across our faculties.”
Professor Sheil said QUT had developed a reputation as a research institution that put its heart and soul into helping to solve some of the most pressing problems facing society.
“Our researchers are inventive, for example, from RangerBot, a robot that helps replenish corals in the Great Barrier Reef, to a new mask material that can remove virus-size nanoparticles and could one day help prevent the spread of viruses like COVID-19, to developing crops such as bananas that are resistant to common diseases.
“QUT is well known for conducting world-class research into biomedical technologies, such as 3D printed implants for cancer patients and for its work into palliative care nursing while its research into digital media, for example Twitter, was enabling insights into the difficulties of communication in the modern age.
“Our researchers work tirelessly help solve real-world problems and this work is done frequently in partnership with industry,” Professor Sheil said.
Professor Sheil said QUT academics had also pulled out all stops to deliver online courses during the COVID-19 situation and the top young uni ranking would be seen as a satisfying reward for effort.
