In 2020, the University sits at 85 on the Academic Ranking of World Universities produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. As one of the world?s elite, research-intensive universities, we will be known for our trusted, reproducible, transformative, open research and accessible data. We will be recognised for leading teams in resolving real-world challenges that are critical to the planet and its people.
  Professor Anna Nowak Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research)

Founded in 1911, The University of Western Australia is in the top 1% of the world's universities, with its research currently ranked 85th on the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Our researchers are globally prominent in a wide variety of research fields, including Biological Sciences and Agricultural Sciences, Marine/Ocean Engineering and Environmental Science & Engineering. UWA is home to two Nobel Prize for Medicine Laureates Professors Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, we host seven of the world's Highly Cited researchers and over 60 academics across all of Australia's learned academies. Our Humanities and Social Science programs have fostered a Prime Minister and State Premiers, as well as many other leaders in Australian society and leaders in many other countries.
The University has a number of cross-disciplinary strategic research areas:

  • Designing our future
  • A just and cultured world
  • Healthy futures
  • Sustainable environment
  • Data intensive discovery

UWA actively collaborates with other research institutions across a broad spectrum of research opportunities, from radio astronomy and supercomputing (playing an integral role in the Square Kilometre Array), offshore engineering, natural gas management, geo-sequestration and marine science, through to collaborations in plant genetics and breeding, rock art, biological arts, work design, health data linkage and the translation of health research outcomes.

These areas, many of which are complementary and allow for multidisciplinary interaction, have been prioritised to ensure that our researchers are, in collaboration with their colleagues locally, nationally and internationally, searching for solutions to the key issues the world faces.

UWA, through the Office of the DVCR, continues to make significant investment into major research infrastructure to establish, across all disciplines, a network of world-class platforms and technologies that underpin our research effort and attract the brightest minds on the planet. These facilities build critical mass, support our research collaborations both internal and external, and help develop new partnerships, including with industry.

At UWA, we are excited by the great opportunities our location, our quality staff and students, and our excellent facilities afford us, as we endeavour to be world leaders in cutting edge research.