Four Australian universities took a place in the top 100 ranked universities in the world, with the University of Melbourne being confirmed as the nation’s highest ranking university. 

In the Centre for World University Rankings list, the University of Melbourne rose 25 places and was ranked 57th, being the top ranked university in the nation. 

The University of Sydney followed with a ranking of 71, showing an improvement from last year’s figure of 74. 

The other two universities in the 100 list included the University of Queensland which ranked 74th, and the Australian National University which ranked 82nd. 

Three more Australian universities were included in the top 100 to 150. These include the University of New South Wales with a world ranking of 119, Monash University with 124, and University of Western Australia with 145. 

“A key factor in the rankings is research, and the Australian institutions, despite their rise in the league tables this year, will find it difficult to compete in the future with top American and European research-intensive universities if the government does not increase its spending on scientific research,” CWUR’s president Nadim Mahassen said. 

Harvard University was ranked first in the world, followed by Stanford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford. 

For Asian countries, Japan was ranked first with the University of Tokyo ranked at 12th, Kyoto University at 26th, and Osaka University at 53rd. Seoul National University of South Korea was ranked at 60th, and Universities from China followed with Peking University and Tsinghua University at rankings of 92 and 98 respectively.