The University of Queensland has continued a stellar year in global rankings, jumping three places in the highly regarded Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.

In a field of almost 1400 research-intensive institutions, UQ is celebrating its move to 66^th in the world, maintaining fourth position in Australia.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Aidan Byrne said the achievement was gratifying in an increasingly competitive sector.

“I am thrilled to see UQ make a leap in these important rankings and sit comfortably among the top universities in the world,” Professor Byrne said.

“To put this achievement another way, UQ is ranked in the top five per cent of institutions globally.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone at the University, because they have all played a role in this fantastic result.

“It is a testament to the continued hard work of our academic and professional staff who strive to keep UQ’s place among the top world universities despite increasing competition from international institutions.”

The five performance indicators for the 2020 THE World University Rankings were teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and industry income.

“In a challenging funding environment for the sector, a strong performance is of critical importance both to UQ and to the local economy,” Professor Byrne said.

UQ climbed to its highest ever position of 54^th globally in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and moved up to 47^th in the 2020 QS World University Rankings.

The University maintained its number one position in Australia in this year’s Nature Index, and was 40^th in the National Taiwan University (NTU) Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities.

Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +64 7 3365 1120.

As UQ’s premier event of the year in New York, the dinner features a panel of renowned Australian and international rugby legends, the awarding of the esteemed Dr Mark Loane AM Medal and raises funds for The University of Queensland in America, Inc. (TUQIA) priorities, the UQ Rugby Club and Play Rugby USA.

This year’s stellar line-up includes ex-Wallaby Captain, Stephen Moore AM, former Wallaby and Fox Sports commentator, Drew Mitchell, former Springbok, Pedrie Wannenburg and former British and Irish Lions player, Tom Court.

Event details:

Date: Thursday 7 November

Time: 6:30pm – 10:00pm

Location: Manhattan Manor, 201 W 52^nd St, New York, NY

Cost: Individual ticket US$250; Tables from US$2,300

Details: Ticket includes a three-course dinner, beverages (including premium spirits) and the chance to win fantastic rugby paraphernalia and auction items.

RSVP: By Thursday 31 October 2019

Register here

Sponsored Table Offering

Captain’s Table: USD $7,500 (*USD $500 of your overall table cost is tax deductible)

• Invitation to the exclusive pre-function event
• Captain’s Table for nine guests and your choice of speaker/panel member
• Premium table location
• Goodie bag with local and Australian offers for each guest
• Verbal acknowledgement of sponsorship at the opening of the UQ Rugby Dinner
• Significant brand exposure (if relevant) on all event collateral and promotional material, printed and digital

Platinum Table: USD $5,000 (*USD $500 of your overall table cost is tax deductible)

• Invitation to the exclusive pre-function event
• Platinum table for nine guests and a speaker/panel member
• Premium table location
• Goodie bag with local and Australian offers for each guest
• Brand exposure (if relevant) on all event collateral and promotional material, printed and digital

Gold Table: USD $3,500 (*USD $500 of your overall table cost is tax deductible)

• Invitation to the exclusive pre-function event
• Gold table for ten guests with a premium location within the room
• Goodie bag with local and Australian offers for each guest
• Brand exposure (if relevant) on all event collateral and promotional material, printed and digital

Corporate Table: USD $2,300 (*USD $500 of your overall table cost is tax deductible)

• Save $200 and purchase a corporate table for you and 9 guests

Individual Ticket: USD $250 (*USD $50 of your overall table cost is tax deductible)

2019 Panellists

Drew Mitchell (70 Test Caps for the Wallabies)

Brisbane born and bred, Mitchell was educated at St Patrick’s College in Shorncliffe and played his junior rugby for the Pine Rivers Pumas Rugby Union club before going on to play for the University of Queensland Rugby Club.

Mitchell made his international debut for the Wallabies against South Africa in 2005, after being selected off the back of a season with the Queensland Reds in which he scored 11 tries and was named Australia’s rookie of the year.

Mitchell is Australia’s highest try scorer in World Cup history.

Today, Mitchell is a Rugby Commentator at Fox Sports and enjoys running marathons.

Tom Court (32 Caps for Ireland)

Court was born in Brisbane, Australia and began his sporting career as a shot-putter. He was the Australian University Champion for three years running and attended Olympic trials in 2002.

In 2004, Court started playing rugby at The University of Queensland at 24 years of age.

In his first season at UQ, Court went from playing 6^th grade to starting in the Premier Grade Grand Final. After a short stint in the New Zealand NPC for Manawatu, Tom returned to Australia and was selected to play for the Queensland Reds only 12 months after his first game.

Court went on to represent the Ireland A side at the 2006 Churchill Cup only 16 months after playing his first game of rugby union.

Court achieved his first international cap for Ireland against Italy in the 2009 Six Nations where Ireland went on to win the tournament and claim the Grand Slam for the first time in 61 years.

Court was named as part of Ireland’s Rugby World Cup Squad in 2011, and played in the Irish 15-6 victory over Australia on 17 September 2011.

In 2013, Court was named in the British and Irish Lions team for their tour of Australia.

Since retiring in 2017, Tom Court has since returned to Australia and is working at The University of Queensland at the Graduate School.

Stephen Moore AM

Moore began his rugby career in Queensland, playing schools rugby for the Rockhampton Pioneers and Brisbane Grammar school prior to joining the University of Queensland Rugby Club, where he went on to represent the Australian under 19s.

He made is Super Rugby debut in 2003 for the Queensland Reds against the Bulls.

Moore first made the Australian Wallabies squad in 2005 where he debuted against Samoa.

In early 2009, Moore moved from Brisbane to Canberra to represent the Brumbies where he played until 2016.

In 2014, Moore was first named captain for the Wallabies squad.

Moore is the only Australian hooker to have played 100 Tests and is Australia’s most capped Super Rugby player of all time.

Since his retirement from rugby, Moore has joined North Australian Pastoral Company as General Manager.

Earlier this year, Moore was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in recognition of his “significant service to rugby union, and to charitable organisations”.

More speakers to be announced…

On the night, we will be awarding one of the University’s most prestigious sports medals, the Dr Mark Loane AM Medal, to America’s most outstanding high school rugby player.

The University of Queensland has moved to its highest ever position in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), sitting at 54^th globally.

The University improved from 55^th position 12 months ago to sit in second place in Australia in the prestigious rankings.

Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj said the result was testament to the fundamental strength of UQ’s underlying research power.

“This great achievement needs to be viewed in the context that there are more than 10,000 universities in the world,” Professor Høj said.

“Only the top 1000 are published in ARWU, and this result is a reward for the collective hard work of UQ’s top-class researchers, who make an enormous contribution to national prosperity.”

Professor Høj said the result was particularly pleasing, given the fiercely competitive international environment.

“Since 2012, UQ has steadily risen from 90^th to 54^th at a time when competition, including from Asian universities, has intensified and funding from traditional sources has declined.

“Indeed, the strong performance of UQ and other Australian universities is hugely dependent on our $37 billion exports industry.

“It’s gratifying to again have UQ recognised internationally and be confirmed as one of the nation’s top universities,” he said.

“The ARWU ranking is based on objective third-party data, and considers the number of highly cited researchers and articles published in high-ranking journals, along with alumni and staff awards.

“These results will help UQ draw top quality staff and students to continue our pursuit of excellence through the creation, preservation, application and transfer of knowledge.”

The ARWU was launched in 2003 and published by the independent higher education consultancy ShanghaiRanking for the past decade.

In the ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects released mid-year, UQ ranked ninth in the world for Nursing, and was the only Australian university with four subjects ranked in the top ten.

“This complements our results in the recently released US News Best Global Universities assessment, which ranked UQ at 42, and the 2020 QS World University rankings, where UQ climbed to 47th position,” Professor Høj said.

“These rankings collectively establish UQ as a top 50 global university.”

Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3364 1120.