Australian University Rankings – A Comparison

What are the top ten Australian Universities? There is no official government ranking of universities in Australia. However there is a number of university league tables produced every year by relevant bodies such as the Melbourne Institute, The Australian Newspaper, The Good Universities Guide, THES and Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s academic ranking of world universities.

The Melbourne Institute (operated by the University of Melbourne) has produced its own ranking of the international standing of Australian universities. This ranking is based on a number of performance indicators such as international standing of staff, views of Deans and CEOs, resources, undergraduate programs, undergraduate intake and graduate programs.

According to Melbourne Institute 2007 the top ten Australian Universities (in order of ranking) are: Australian National University (ANU), University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of Queensland, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Monash University, University of Western Australia (UWA), University of Adelaide, Macquarie University and Queensland University of Technology. From this ranking ANU was the number one Australian university in terms of international standing and reputation, followed by Melbourne and Sydney. Is this result representative? Here we will analyze and compare it with the other two famous international league tables – THES and Academic ranking of world universities (ARWU).

Ranking Comparison:

- The list of top four universities produced by the Melbourne Institute are the same in ranking order as THES and ARWU 2007. We are confident to say that they are the Best Four – ANU, Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland.

- Group of Eight (Go8) Universities are among the top 8 universities as ranked by the three different league tables. These include the Best Four and the rest of the group – UNSW, Monash, UWA and Adelaide.

- Macquarie and QUT are among the top ten list (after Go8) in the Melbourne Institute and THES league tables.

University Technology Transfer – Opportunities and Benefits

The practice of technology transfer can greatly benefit an organization. What is technology transfer? It is the sharing of technology between two or more organizations. Usually, one organisation has developed a new technology and licenses it to the other organization, whose goal is to commercialize that technology. For instance, a university who has developed a new technology may license that technology to businesses so that the businesses can develop the new technology into a product, process, application, or service.

Who are the organizations who are involved in technology transfer? Universities and other primary research together with quick loans online organisations regularly license their technologies to businesses. Also, businesses involved in different fields may benefit from this sharing.

Who are the organizations who are involved in technology transfer? Universities and other primary research organisations regularly license their technologies to businesses. Also, businesses involved in different fields may benefit from this sharing.

Parties on both sides of an agreement benefit. The researchers who developed the technology earn licensing fees, and the organisation who has licensed it can develop and manufacture it into a patented product or service to be sold, while avoiding rising research and development costs.

Many opportunities have emerged because of tech transfer. Fields like biotechnology and diagnostics, pharmaceutical drug discovery, energy and engineering, and microelectronics and optoelectronics are all making use of technology transfer. Researchers can now develop a technology, and then license it out so that organisations with other specialized skill sets can take it further. Researchers may be looking for organisations who can further develop the technology. These organisations may have superior manufacturing, marketing, and distribution capabilities.

Tech transfer also occurs so that the technology can be applied in different fields than what is was designed as well. The researchers may have developed and been able to use the technology in one field, but license it out for use in other fields. For instance, the developer of the technology might be capable of exploiting the technology in diagnostic applications, but might not have the capability to exploit it in therapeutic applications, so they could license it out to a therapeutic application focused organisation. Finding available tech transfer opportunities and capitalising on them may be just what your organisation needs to develop that new product or service that you’ve been searching for.

Science, Religion and Philosophy

In our modern world it seems as if natural science is completely incompatible with religion and (to a large extend) philosophy. In spite of some imaginative scientists trying to soften and modify the scientific community’s view of the world as a huge machine, the general impression is that a war between two different world views is taking place. On one hand the scientific view of the world as pure matter without any kind of spirit (and certainly not any kind of divine purpose or interference) and on the other hand the religious or philosophic views where spirit (and in many cases also some kind of divine power) plays an important role in our whole existence.

Why does it have to be like that? Albert Einstein, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all times, said: “Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.” If one of the most esteemed scientists in modern times found it necessary to combine the two subjects then, why does the vast majority of scientists and religious representatives continue their seemingly endless fights?

It is evident that natural science explains a lot about nature and our universe. It is a fact that without science we would not have been able to create our modern civilizations with complex infrastructures enabling us to travel by land, air and sea. We wouldn’t have computers, cell phones and internet. Modern hospitals, institutions and organizations would not exist…

But the fact that natural science has helped us immensely in understanding the nature surrounding us doesn’t necessarily mean that we can find all answers that way. Our consciousness is still a mystery to natural science because it can only be experienced as a first-hand, subjective experience!

On the other hand, most religions are based on very old information that was originally given to people much less educated than the majority of people today. Also, it might very well be distorted by misinterpretations and misunderstandings during centuries. Nevertheless, in spite of all the wisdom contained in these religions it would have been impossible for anybody to explain scientific laws to people at that time. Remember that until a few centuries ago everybody was convinced that the earth was flat and also the center of the universe!

To me, modern philosophy should include knowledge from both natural science and religion. If scientists on one hand and religious people on the other hand are reluctant to change their views (maybe partly because it would force them to change their whole personal identity), philosophers ought to be seeking the truth without prejudice.

I also think that philosophy should include a total world view. In spite of the standpoint of existentialism that the individual has total freedom and responsibility to create his values alone, I find it very important to have a total personal world view.

Without a fundamental and comprehensive world view we are (in spite of the evolutionary principles) lonely beings in a world of chaos, coincidence and injustice.