Monash leads more research fields than any other university
Monash is the leader in more research fields than any other university, according to new top 250 list in The Australian’s Research magazine.
Monash University stands at the top of more fields of research than any other Australian university, according to The Australian’s latest analysis of university research performance.
The top 250 list in the 2026 Research magazine in Wednesday’s Australian reveals that Monash is Australia’s leading research institution in 51 of the 250 research fields examined, well ahead of the other “big five” universities.
UNSW, its nearest competitor, leads in 27 fields, the University of Queensland leads in 26, the University of Melbourne leads in 22 and the University of Sydney leads in 21.
Monash owes its lead to its strong performance in health and medical sciences, where it leads in 21 of the 66 fields in this discipline. Areas in which Monash is Australia’s leading research institution include cardiology, gynaecology and obstetrics, diabetes, neurology, pregnancy and childbirth, reproductive health, vascular medicine and virology.
Monash also has research strength across a wide range of portfolios. It is the only Australian university that is a field leader in all eight broad research disciplines that are examined in the Research magazine.
Robyn Ward, Monash University deputy vice-chancellor (research and enterprise), said the university had achieved longstanding impact with its research “from pioneering IVF in the 1970s, to the development of the FODMAP diet, Australia’s first artificial heart, major global clinical trials, and innovative clean water solutions across the Indo-Pacific”.
She said Monash was “by a wide margin” Australia’s top university for industry research income and was also a leader in fundamental research, attracting more Australian Research Council discovery grants than any other university in the past two years.
The Research magazine chooses the top research institutions, and the top individual researchers, across 250 fields of research by examining research output over the past five years in top journals and selecting the institution and individual researcher in each field whose published papers have the most citations, indicating their value to other researchers.
The Research magazine also takes a detailed look at a university research programs that are focused on a broad range of positive economic, social and environmental outcomes, using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a yardstick.
The University of NSW shines as the institution making a major contribution to more goals than any other university.
“In the new world of research the future is really about how you bring different disciplines together to solve big societal challenges,” said Bronwyn Fox, UNSW deputy vice-chancellor (research and enterprise).
The magazine’s top 250 list also gives universities that are outside the elite tier of research-intensive institutions a chance to showcase their specialties.
Western Sydney University ¬ home of the National Institute of Complementary Medicine – is Australia’s leading research institution in alternative and traditional medicine. NICM’s work has benefited over the years from $20m in philanthropic donations offered by vitamin king Marcus Blackmore and his foundation.
Edith Cowan University, home of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, is the top research institution in drama and theatre arts.
The University of Tasmania, which houses the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, is Australia’s leader in the field of marine science and fisheries.
RMIT University, long a hub for aviation studies through the RMIT Aviation Academy, is the research leader in aviation and aerospace engineering.
Swinburne University of Technology is the research leader in optics and photonics due to the pre-eminence of its Optical Sciences Centre whose director, David Moss, is also the leading individual researcher in this field.
La Trobe University, home to the Living with Disability Research Centre and Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, is research leader in developmental disabilities. And the Australian Catholic University, with its Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, is research leader in educational psychology and counselling.
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