Melbourne tops nation in prestigious rankings

The University of Melbourne has climbed four places in the prestigious Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities, further strengthening its place as Australia’s number one university.

Now ranked 40 in the world, Melbourne has moved ahead of the University of Texas, the University of California, the University of Paris Sud and the University of Maryland.

Ensuring Australia has a presence among the world’s leading universities has been a continuous strategic focus of the University of Melbourne and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis, said the rankings underlined the dedication of staff in achieving these objectives.

"This result is a testament to the dedicated work by our researchers and staff," he said.

"It is imperative that Australia has a strong foothold among the world's greatest universities and our continuous focus is on ensuring we provide excellence in education and support pioneering world leading research."

Australia now has 23 institutions represented in the top 500 - up from 20 in 2015.