QS ranking profile
The University of Western Australia
This page presents clearly labeled QS ranking data for orientation. It does not verify programs, supervisors, funding, admission requirements, or the university's website.
- QS 2026 rank
- #77
- No change since 2025
- QS 2025 rank
- #77
- Overall score
- 73.7
Explore opportunities at The University of Western Australia
Browse active research positions, doctoral fellowships, and university funding calls indexed from official faculties and verified sources.
QS indicators
Reported ranking indicators
Each indicator is scored out of 100 in the same QS snapshot as the summary above.
#137 worldwide
#209 worldwide
#801 worldwide
#34 worldwide
#77 worldwide
#36 worldwide
#23 worldwide
#122 worldwide
#147 worldwide
#129 worldwide
Institution profile
How QS classifies this institution
QS groups institutions by size, subject range, and research output.
- Size
- Large
- About 12,000 to 30,000 students
- Subject range
- Focused
- Teaches a limited range of faculty areas
- Research intensity
- Very high
- Very high research output in the QS classification
- Region
- Oceania
- QS regional grouping
University profile
About The University of Western Australia
Editorial background written for orientation. Verify programs, funding, and admission on the university's official pages.
Research themes connected to Western Australia
The University of Western Australia describes research strengths in clean energy transition and sustainable resources, health and biotechnology, frontier technologies, culture and heritage, resilient environments and climate change, and Indigenous research. These areas provide a useful first map for someone with a STEM question. They also show that some topics are connected to the university's regional setting, including marine, terrestrial, environmental, agricultural, and health-related questions. A theme is only a beginning, however. A serious research fit needs to be traced to the school, centre, institute, or group where the relevant work is taking place.
The research pages refer to artificial intelligence, data science, cyber security, and space innovation. They also point to ecology, evolution, genetics, plant biology, zoology, fisheries, agriculture, and environmental management. This range can help you choose more precise search terms. It cannot by itself tell you which group is closest to your interests. After finding a relevant theme, look for current projects and researchers whose work makes the topic concrete. The most useful evidence will explain the problem being studied and the way the team approaches it.
Centres, institutes, schools, and collaborative work
UWA describes research as involving centres and institutes, shared platforms and technologies, and work with business, industry, and research organisations. Its public information also refers to 22 schools and to subject-specific laboratories and teaching or research facilities. This gives a prospective researcher several levels to investigate. A school can establish the academic base of a field. A centre or institute can show a cross-disciplinary setting. A project, laboratory, or staff page can reveal the methods and questions that give the work its practical form.
The university's research degree information describes Higher Degree by Research study as an in-depth exploration supported by a team. That description is useful context, but it cannot serve as a detailed account of every separate academic field. The local academic unit is still the right place to understand how research is organised in a particular area. If your question depends on a specific technology, collection, or field setting, look for direct evidence that the unit uses it. This avoids drawing conclusions from broad institutional language about collaboration or infrastructure.
Place, research questions, and fit checks
The university locates its campus on the banks of the Swan River, also known as Derbal Yerrigan, on Whadjuk Nation land. Its public material connects this setting with a longer history of learning and knowledge. For a researcher, place may matter when the work is connected to ecosystems, marine and coastal settings, agriculture, health, cultural questions, or community-based research. It is not a substitute for checking a research group, but it can help explain why some topics appear in the university's current work and how they may connect with a regional context.
To assess fit, write down one clear research question and find the school or unit that owns it. Add a small number of current people or projects that are visibly related, then compare their methods and subject language with your own background. Separate what the university says broadly from what the local unit shows directly. The labelled figures above describe the institution at a high level, not the value of a particular group or research direction. A focused decision comes from current evidence about the academic home where you would actually work.