The Times Higher Education QS World University Rankings 2008 were released today with ANU maintaining its rank of 16th for the third year in a row, and now the highest-ranked university from outside the UK and USA.
With ANU ranked between Cornell and Stanford universities, ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb said ANU was in good company. “One of the outcomes of these rankings systems is not so much the number attributed to you, but who your neighbours are. We’ve been put into that neighbourhood based on the same indicators and measures, and if on those indicators you’re rubbing shoulders with universities like that you can be pleased.”
Professor Chubb says the rankings had a particular pay off for students. “When I go to New York and find ANU graduates who are employed there, they very proudly tell me that in order to represent themselves they were able to say that ANU is ranked number 16 in the world by the Times Higher Education Supplement and employers found that of interest and relevance.”
While Professor Chubb said he does not consider the rankings as necessarily perfect, he said they were a good indication of general performance. “It is telling you that ANU performs very well. It tells you where we sit amongst universities ranked on the same indicators. It gives cause to be proud of the achievements of our staff and students and it’s an indication of how well they do what they are here to do.”
