Ireland ranked 6th in global University Rankings- Sherlock
Issued : Tuesday 22 November, 2011
Statement by Sean Sherlock TD
Minister of State, Department of Enterprise, Jobs & Innovation and Department of Education & Skills with responsibility for Research & Innovation
The Minister for Research and Innovation, Séan Sherlock TD has responded to the recently announced Times Higher Education and QS World University rankings, and the positions of Ireland's universities. Ireland has 5 universities ranked in the top 300 globally.
Speaking during Science Week Minister Sherlock said "While the headline rankings given to Irish Universities by both QS and Times Higher Education have been widely covered by the media, both here and abroad, there is much more to the Irish position in the wider academic landscape, where our educational institutions are continuing to compete strongly from a worldwide perspective.
"For example, in the Times Higher Education Survey 2011/2012, when the number of universities in the top 200 is considered against GDP, it shows that Ireland ranks 6th in the world.
"Such a high ranking reflects the Government's strategy of improving Ireland's entire academic ecosystem, rather than focusing on a very small number of elite institutions, as is done in some other countries.
"The effect of this is to ensure the quality of all graduates from Ireland's HEIs are of a high standard, a fact further borne out in the recent IBEC Employer survey, which found that 75% of employers have no problems recruiting suitable graduates from Irish HEIs, and the multitude of multinational corporations who continue to invest in R&D facilities in Ireland."
The Minister added "Furthermore, the overall rankings do not reflect Ireland's exceptional performance in certain fields, particularly the sciences."
Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators 2010, which measures the impact of countries' scientific research, ranks Ireland in 20th position in the world across all research fields - a dramatic rise from our placing of 36th as recently as 2003. Ireland is ranked even higher in areas such as in Immunology (3rd) and Materials science (8th).
Ireland continues to produce large numbers of highly educated and skilled workers, despite economic pressures, ranking 4th in the OECD and 1st in the EU in third-level attainment rates of 25-34 year olds.
In addition as captured in the World Competitiveness Yearbook (2011) IMD, Ireland ranks 1st globally for availability of skilled labour and openness to new ideas (up from 4th in 2010) and is ranked 4th globally for labour productivity per person employed per hour (up from 6th in 2010).
Minister Sherlock concluded by saying "Of course we know that we can continue to further improve elements right across our higher education and innovation system but it is through the quality of our people plus the exceptional work and research being performed at all of our institutions, that we can successfully build a true knowledge economy, one that will grow from strength to strength."
Further information:
Irish Education System - Some key Indicators
ECOFIN Study 2009
Ireland ranked 1st of 28 countries in terms of graduates per 1000 inhabitants
Ireland ranked 2nd of 27 countries in terms of graduates per academic staff
Ireland ranked 1st of 28 countries in terms of recruiter perception of quality of graduates
Ireland ranked 2nd of 28 countries in terms of academic peer review of quality of graduates
Attainment Rates - OECD figures (Education at a Glance 2011)
Ireland ranked fourth in OECD in terms of tertiary attainment rate of 25-34 year olds (48%)
IBEC Employer Survey 2011
75% no trouble recruiting suitable graduates from Irish HEIs
(Of the quarter who did majority were in engineering disciplines)
World Economic Forum 2011 - Ireland ranked 29th out of 142 countries overall
Ireland ranked 10th out of 142 for Health and Primary Education
Ireland ranked 22nd out of 142 for strength of Higher Education and Training
World Competitiveness Yearbook (2011) IMD - Ireland ranked 24th out of 59 overall
Ireland ranks 1st globally for availability of skilled labour and openness to new ideas (up from 4th in 2010)
Ireland ranks 4th globally for labour productivity per person employed per hour (up from 6th in 2010)
Research Excellence and Impact
*Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators 2011
Ireland ranks within the top 20 nations in the world across all research fields. Ireland moved up from 36th in the world in 2003 in terms of the impact of its research to its current position at 20th in the world.
In 2005, Irish research institutions featured within the top 1% in the world* in terms of research impact in 10 key areas - and the number of fields in which Irish research institutions feature within the world top 1%* has increased by 80% in the past 5 years to 18 fields.
World Rankings
Ireland has 5 universities in the top 300 overall rankings (QS)
TCD and UCD in top 100 universities for majority of HSS subjects (QS)
TCD in top 50 for 8 subjects and no. 15 in Maths (QS)
Ireland in sixth place globally for number of universities in top 200 relative to GDP
