Southern Cross University (SCU) has joined the ranks of the Globe’s top 500 universities in this year’s Times Higher Education World University Rankings, climbing more than 80 places in just one year.

Professor Ben Roche, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Education Impact) at Southern Cross University, told the Lismore App that the eighty-place increase landed SCU at 497.

"So, and that brings us into this rather exclusive Top 500 club globally, which we're very proud of," he said.

The University’s enhanced standing in this year’s rankings is attributable to a range of factors, including continued strong growth in research income, strength in completion of doctoral candidates and an overall boost in the proportion of the University’s faculty holding a doctoral level qualification.

This year, measures relating to the quality and impact of the University’s research also improved, marking the continuation of a now well-established trend over several years.

Professor (Prof.) Roche explained the criteria for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

"The breakdown of data is quite detailed, so we get a very good sense of it. It was really driven by our research performance. Basically, they look across a whole range of categories, but it was our research performance that really lifted this one. And so, specifically, that looks at things like our growth in research and industry-funded research income. That's a big one.

"They look at a whole bunch of quality metrics. One of those is the ratio of staff with PhDs, which is kind of considered a very standard one. But the really important one is what they call citation impact, which is effectively when peers, so other researchers around the world, are citing and referring to the published output from Southern Cross researchers. That grew significantly.

"I have to say, it's incredibly powerful for staff to get this kind of recognition. I mean, a lot of people dwell on the institutional level benefit and strategy, but for researchers and teaching academics who are on the coal face, there's that recognition that they're at a university that is world-class, and for a place that is 31 years old, punching well above its weight.

"It's important, not only for their recognition, but for our ongoing growth and ability to attract our world-class talent."

Prof. Roche mentioned three research projects in which SCU is leading the way.

"We have one called Harvest to Health, which really looks from that whole spectrum of breeding and growing all the way through to application in a medical and clinical context. And we've been doing a lot of work, leading the agri-futures hemp research work nationally.

"Just recently, we got another half a million dollars from the ARC (Australian Research Council) to look at improving hemp breeding, basically, and that's all with a view to establishing a hemp industry in Australia. The core issue with that is we haven't really bred seed. All seed at the moment is bought from China or France. We're really looking at how to breed a locally adapted seed variety that can then be used to grow the industry broadly. So, that's one example.

"There'll be a big announcement soon around a really significant project, which is actually a collaborative project globally that we're leading, looking at how to apply, effectively, archeological knowledge to cultural heritage management in the resources sector. That's a really interesting one, so we don't repeat a Rio Tinto, and we can get to a stage where they're starting to see their role as cultural managers as well.

"The final one I'll give you is a project called Sister Screen, which is a part of a long body of work that we've been delivering that really looks at how we support greater indigenous or Aboriginal health outcomes. Sister Screen just got funded by Cancer Australia to the tune of $2.5 million. That's really looking specifically at how to increase cervical screening rates of First Nations women during that pregnancy and postpartum period.

There are no set goals for SCU in terms of increasing its Times Higher Education World University Ranking. The goal is about continuous improvement in the research sector.

"We see research as the foundation for pretty much all that we do, but particularly for growing our reputation and our position nationally and globally. So, leading with that really substantive agenda that is really effectively about how we apply knowledge to create impact. We're really doing a lot of work to grow the relevance and the alignment of our research with priorities of both industry and governments at all scales.

"These ranking systems bounce around. You can go up 20 or down 10; it all depends on the volume of universities entering that ranking system. But the most important thing for us, which we derive, whether it's the Times Higher Ed or the other one, is the QS system; they're the two most prestigious, and we've been on a very significant upward trajectory overall since about 2010, and that's what drives us.

"For us, it's not really about the rankings, but it is about that continuous improvement agenda that sits under that because most of the the metrics, the rankings, use metrics to do with improvement of quality and impact, and so for us, it's just all part of this better every day, kind of mindset that we've got at the university and focused on how we keep improving and using global best practices as our reference point for that."

Southern Cross Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tyrone Carlin, praised the University’s researchers and staff, highlighting projects as diverse as cloud brightening, hemp seed yield research and clinical trials at the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine as “outstanding examples of excellence and impact.”

“This is terrific news for Southern Cross and for the regions we serve. I am proud of our staff and students whose dedication is being recognised on the global stage,” he said.

Academic excellence is central to what we do, but equally, it’s our culture of care, boldness and ownership that sets us apart.”

He said the University’s progress was built on strong values and a determination to make a difference.

“When those values come together in our teaching, research and community engagement, they create real impact. That’s what is driving our work and the contribution we make to the communities we serve.”