NUI Galway has climbed six places in the QS World University Ranking 2017/2018, to reach 243 in the world. This is the fifth successive year the University has risen in the international rankings, consolidating its position among the world’s elite educational institutions. It now ranks amongst the top one per cent of universities in the world.
Speaking on the continued success, President of NUI Galway, Dr Jim Browne said that the university is on the edge of the Atlantic but that its outlook is global. “The news today (Thursday ) is further acknowledgement of the developments in teaching and research that have taken place at this University in recent years. The hard work, commitment and ambition of our staff and students has led to our continued to rise in global rankings, and we are pleased to see the impact in international recognition and in student interest, with a 10 per cent increase in CAO applications this year. Amidst speculation on the impact of Brexit on Irish institutions, we’ve seen an 11 per cent increase on applications from Northern Ireland and Great Britain this year.”
President Browne added: “What’s particularly heartening is that the rankings highlight our student focus and the international excellence on our campus, with the highest ratings allocated to the internationality of our faculty students. While no ranking system can truly assess the value of a university, we know that rankings are important to our graduates as they progress in their careers internationally, as well as raising the profile of NUI Galway on a global stage”
The latest ranking comes at the end of a year which has seen many academic and physical changes at the university.
In the last year, NUI Galway has secured €38m in funding from Horizon 2020, the EU Research and Innovation Programme. NUI Galway’s research community has been successful in attracting €4m through other European programmes, including INTERREG, Erasmus and ESA; bringing the total awards under the current cycle of European funding (2014-20 ) to just over €42m.
NUI Galway is home to approximately 600 researchers, and advances during the year covered areas as diverse as new robotic devices to help failing hearts, mathematical equations that can make Batman’s cape a reality, community based research on quality of life in Irish cities and arsenic contamination in groundwater.
In November 2016, four NUI Galway staff members, Professor Henry Curran, Professor Colin O’Dowd, Professor Donal O’Regan and Dr Ronan Sulpice were named among the World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers in an international analysis carried out by Clarivite.
December 2016 saw the completion of a major investment by NUI Galway in clinical training across the West/North West region with a new Medical Academy in Donegal coming on stream joining academies in Mayo and Sligo.
Two members of staff were awarded National Teaching and Learning Awards for the student engagement initiative Breaking the SEAL – breaking down the barriers for secondary school students to academia - Barry Houlihan, from the James Hardiman Library and Paul Flynn, from the School of Education. Jerome Sheahan, Mathematics, was recognised also with a National Teaching Hero Award.
In April 2017, President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins officially opened the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance. The Centre includes a 120-seate theatre space with retractable tiered seating and LED stage lighting, the first of its kind in Ireland.
In September 2016 the SFI CÚRAM Centre for Research in Medical Devices was officially launched, the €49million centre enhances our reputation as a global hub for medtech.
This year’s QS table provides the definitive guide to the world’s 959 top universities. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is named the world’s leading university for a record sixth consecutive year.
The full table of rankings can be viewed here: www.TopUniversities.com
