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Physical Sciences research in Australia

UNSW Sydney ranks first in Australia for Physical Sciences research in 2022–2025 (#66 worldwide), followed by The University of Queensland and Monash University.

Australia's world rank
#8
of 157 countries, 2022–2025
Works, 2022–2025
106k
Top-10% rate
25.5%
Ranked institutions
60

Research strength only: this says nothing about teaching, admissions or cost.

What is the best university for Physical Sciences in Australia?

#InstitutionWorld rankScoreTop-10% rateWorks
1UNSW SydneySydney #6655.726.2%7,462
2The University of QueenslandBrisbane #12848.726.8%5,291
3Monash UniversityMelbourne #12948.728.6%5,031
4The University of AdelaideAdelaide #13148.528.8%3,488
5The University of SydneySydney #15147.025.3%5,580
6The University of MelbourneMelbourne #16346.224.1%5,331
7RMIT UniversityMelbourne #16446.129.8%3,880
8Australian National UniversityCanberra #20343.922.8%3,698
9University of Technology SydneySydney #22542.829.7%4,901
10University of WollongongWollongong #32838.825.2%2,662
11Swinburne University of TechnologyMelbourne #33238.724.2%2,588
12Queensland University of TechnologyBrisbane #36637.628.6%2,761
13Curtin UniversityPerth #37637.325.5%2,899
14Division of Materials Science and EngineeringCanberra #41636.321.6%1,485
15The University of Western AustraliaPerth #47934.823.9%2,852
16Deakin UniversityBurwood #51434.029.0%3,196
17Griffith UniversityBrisbane #58432.727.2%2,304
18Macquarie UniversitySydney #58932.625.2%2,357
19University of Newcastle AustraliaNewcastle #59632.524.4%1,588
20University of Southern QueenslandToowoomba #61632.132.5%1,066
21Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganisationCanberra #67131.227.8%1,895
22University of TasmaniaHobart #81929.124.6%1,537
23Edith Cowan UniversityPerth #1,01626.834.1%900
24University of CanberraCanberra #1,03626.626.2%952
25Western Sydney UniversityRichmond #1,11225.927.4%1,429
26La Trobe UniversityMelbourne #1,22424.922.8%1,288
27Flinders UniversityAdelaide #1,30824.223.0%929
28Australian Research CouncilCanberra #1,31924.128.5%309
29University of South AustraliaAdelaide #1,32024.124.7%1,421
30Australian Nuclear Science and Technology OrganisationSydney #1,44323.118.6%454
31James Cook UniversityTownsville #1,49622.826.4%961
32Murdoch UniversityPerth #1,79420.825.9%759
33Central Queensland UniversityRockhampton #1,82820.625.7%654
34Australian SynchrotronMelbourne #1,88120.326.3%180
35CSIRO ManufacturingCanberra #1,93420.027.6%334
36Quantum (Australia)Essendon #2,00519.722.4%180
37Australian Antarctic DivisionHobart #2,08519.226.4%170
38University of New EnglandArmidale #2,24318.527.7%390
39Bureau of MeteorologyMelbourne #2,24718.524.0%203
40Charles Sturt UniversityBathurst #2,32218.126.5%602
41ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics TechnologiesClayton #2,38317.827.3%80
42ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum SystemsBrisbane #2,39517.833.5%70
43Data61Sydney #2,44317.634.2%534
44Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication TechnologySydney #2,45517.528.5%110
45CSIRO Oceans and AtmosphereCanberra #2,46817.528.1%249
46ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System ScienceSydney #2,47017.531.1%118
47Victoria UniversityMelbourne #2,54417.129.2%570
48ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular ImagingClayton #2,64816.736.7%108
49ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky AstrophysicsSydney #2,73316.438.8%117
50ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical SystemsCanberra #2,85115.916.2%130
51Australian Regenerative Medicine InstituteClayton #2,96815.516.6%425
52Charles Darwin UniversityDarwin #3,26814.527.5%508
53Environmental Earth SciencesSydney #3,27114.526.0%271
54Southern Cross UniversityLismore #3,32614.326.5%390
55Astronomy and SpaceMarsfield #3,52613.716.2%366
56ASTRO-3DAustralind #3,55713.640.9%88
57Agriculture and FoodCanberra #3,65113.330.8%265
58Federation UniversityBallarat #3,71513.123.9%486
59International Centre for Radio Astronomy ResearchCrawley #3,75813.029.7%155
60Mineral ResourcesCanberra #3,84912.813.5%441

Institutions in Australia above the floor of 40 fractional works in Physical Sciences, ordered by their worldwide rank on research quality, 2022–2025.

Who are the top Physical Sciences researchers in Australia?

Rajkumar Buyya, Chunhua Shen and Martin A. Green rank highest among researchers based in Australia.

  1. 1Rajkumar Buyya#240 worldwide overall7.8k citations · 468 works
  2. 2Chunhua Shen#859 worldwide overall5.9k citations · 268 works
  3. 3Martin A. Green#4,037 worldwide overall3.4k citations · 290 works
  4. 4Qing‐Long Han#4,594 worldwide overall3.8k citations · 308 works
  5. 5David J. Hill#7,456 worldwide overall2.9k citations · 259 works
  6. 6G. N. Taylor#9,151 worldwide overall7.7k citations · 703 works
  7. 7Peng Shi#9,681 worldwide overall5k citations · 498 works
  8. 8Derrick Wing Kwan Ng#10,733 worldwide overall2.6k citations · 273 works
  9. 9Brian D. O. Anderson#14,201 worldwide overall3.6k citations · 397 works
  10. 10Yi Yang#19,769 worldwide overall3.6k citations · 335 works
  11. 11Zhao Yang Dong#23,950 worldwide overall3.1k citations · 382 works
  12. 12Mark Randolph#27,577 worldwide overall1.6k citations · 276 works
  13. 13Dacheng Tao#28,561 worldwide overall6.1k citations · 687 works
  14. 14Jinhong Yuan#37,636 worldwide overall1.9k citations · 304 works
  15. 15Xinghuo Yu#40,056 worldwide overall2.6k citations · 392 works

How Australia compares with other countries in Physical Sciences