Swinburne excels in ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024

Swinburne University of Technology has achieved strong results in the latest ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024.

This year, two Swinburne subjects ranked in the top 50 worldwide.

Automation and Control was a standout performer at rank 13, up from 36 last year, positioning Swinburne as the best in Australia for the subject. 

Also in the top 50 was Business Administration, which ranked 24. The subject rose 20 places from last year.

Law and Computer Science & Engineering ranked closely behind, with both subjects rising to the 51-75 bracket, from the top 150 and top 100 last year respectively. 

The Global Ranking of Academic Subjects accompanies the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), released each year by ShanghaiRanking.

Swinburne's Professor Karen Hapgood, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, says Swinburne’s impressive performance highlights the outstanding impact of our educators and researchers. 

“With Automation and Control ranking 13th globally, and becoming the top performer in Australia, and Business Administration climbing 20 places to 24th in the world, these results reflect the impact our hard-working research and academic staff have made.”

“This year’s achievements, including strong rises in Law and Computer Science & Engineering, reaffirm Swinburne’s growing global influence across a range of fields,” Professor Hapgood said.

“Congratulations to everyone who contributed to this exceptional success. While at Swinburne we’re more than our rank, we’re also proud to be recognised as among the best in the world.”

Swinburne’s 2024 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects

• Automation and Control 13 (up from 36)
• Business Administration 24 (up from 44)
• Law 51-75 (up from 101-150)
• Computer Science and Engineering 51-75 (up from 76-100) 
• Hospitality and Tourism Management 51-75
• Civil Engineering 101-150
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering 101-150
• Nursing 101-150 (up from 201-300)
• Transportation Science & Technology 101-150 (up from 151-200)
• Communication 151-200
• Mechanical Engineering 151-200
• Physics 151-200
• Telecommunication Engineering 151-200
• Chemical Engineering 201-300
• Energy Science and Engineering 201-300
• Instruments Science and Technology 201-300
• Materials Science & Engineering 201-300
• Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 201-300 
• Chemistry 301-400 
• Education 301-400 (up from 401-500)
• Management 301-400
• Psychology 301-400
• Public Health 301-400
• Environmental Science and Engineering 401-500 (ranked for the first time)

The ShanghaiRanking’s GRAS 2024 ranks more than 1,900 out of 5,000 universities globally in 55 subjects across natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences.

The ranking methodology focuses on five major evaluation categories such as world-class faculty, world-class output, high quality research, research impact and international collaboration. 

Swinburne’s latest subject rankings success follows it's recent success in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2024, jumping 19 places to 24, as well as placing in the world’s top 300 universities in the QS University Rankings 2025.