University of Auckland holds top spot
Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland has maintained its position as the top New Zealand university and in the top 150 in the world, with the release of the 2023 THE World University Rankings.
After attaining the highest rank of joint 137th that any university in Aotearoa New Zealand has ranked in the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings last year, the University of Auckland did well to hold its place at joint 139th given growing global competition and the ongoing impact of the Covid pandemic, believes Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater.
“This is a reflection of the dedication and commitment of the University community that we have been clearly able to hold our place in the Top 150 universities among incredible competition,” she said.
“It is set against a backdrop of the pandemic during which we lost international faculty and students. And while our borders are now open, it is our reputation score, particularly for teaching, that has seen us retain a high ranking. I am particularly proud of this given its relevance to students.”
Professor Freshwater said the University had done its best to balance the effects of the pandemic with a variety of initiatives.
“These included the establishment of offshore learning centres to help support international and domestic students who were unable to return to New Zealand, a comprehensive range of learning support services made available to students, and the pivot to online when required. We also ensured increased support for academic staff in the design and delivery of learning and teaching to accommodate students unable to attend campus.”
The THE World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by the Times Higher Education magazine. This year’s table draws on an analysis of 15.5 million research publications, more than 40,000 responses to an annual academic reputation survey, and data points covering a university’s teaching environment, international outlook and industry links.
Institutions are measured across 13 separate performance metrics, providing an internationally comparable view of excellence among world-class research universities. A record number of 1,799 universities from 104 countries and regions are included in the rankings this year.
Earlier this year, Waipapa Taumata Rau was ranked sixth in the 2022 THE University Impact Rankings, which assess universities against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Having held the top place for the first two years of this ranking, Auckland has remained in the Top 10 since then.
The University is also in the Top 100 of the 2023 QS World University Rankings, rated 87th.