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Thursday 8 March 2018 10:24am

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The Dean of Otago's School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Science Professor Chris Button welcomes the latest rankings from QS which place Otago at number 12 worldwide in the field of sports-related subjects.

For the second year running, Otago has been ranked among the top universities in the world for sports-related subjects.

The 2018 QS World University Rankings by subject were released last week and saw an increase in the total number of University of Otago subjects ranked in the top 100 worldwide.

As well as maintaining five subjects in the top 50 worldwide (with three of those five improving their position within the top 50), the numbers of Otago subjects ranked between 51st and 100th increased from eight to 10.

In the top five subject areas for Otago, Physical Education is ranked 12th in the world, and Dentistry, ranked 27th. Last year Otago ranked 7th in the field of sports-related subjects.

"As Dean I wish to acknowledge all the staff at the School for their hard work in helping us to achieve this recognition. I also want to acknowledge the other departments and schools that we work with who have made invaluable contributions to this result."

The Dean of Otago’s School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences Professor Chris Button says the School is extremely happy with the latest QS assessment.

“Alongside 2017’s result, being ranked at 12th best in the world in 2018 helps to cement our international reputation for producing high quality research in sport related studies.

“The School produces far-reaching, impactful research across a wide range of topics – to have this level of endorsement from our international colleagues is a very special honour.

“As Dean I wish to acknowledge all the staff at the School for their hard work in helping us to achieve this recognition. I also want to acknowledge the other departments and schools that we work with who have made invaluable contributions to this result.”

Professor Button says the School would like to dedicate the result to all of the “fantastic students and the vital supporting roles played by general staff over the years” as the School reaches its 70th anniversary in 2018.

“This ranking helps to confirm that the School is still in very good shape and that we have an exciting and fruitful future in front of us.”

Alongside the successes of the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences and the Faculty of Dentistry, other Departments performed very well.

The University’s Archaeology, Anatomy and Physiology and Development Studies offerings achieved top-50 rankings, placing 28th, 29th and 39th respectively. And for the first time, Theology, Nursing, Pharmacy/Pharmacology, and Earth (and Marine) Sciences featured in the 51 to100 band in the world, joining Psychology, Performing Arts, Geography, Education, Anthropology, and Law in this band.

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Professor Ross Notman.

Dean of the College of Education Professor Ross Notman welcomed the result.

“We are delighted with this QS result that reflects our strong staff commitment to quality teaching and research,” he says.

“Our success can be found in particular QS criteria, including employer reputation – for example 100 per cent of our Masters’ graduates gained employment in 2016 and 2017; our faculty/student ratios; and our very positive research citations for staff educational publications.”

As well as having 15 subjects in the top 100 band, Otago also has another seven subjects in the top 150-band, and six in the 151 to 200 band.

The Otago subjects in the 101-150-band are: English, History, Biological Sciences, Medicine, Environmental Sciences, Accounting and Finance, and Business and Management Studies.

Those in the 151-200 band are: Languages, Philosophy, Communications and Media Studies, Economics and Econometrics, Politics and International Relations, and Sociology.

In the broader “faculty” categories assessed for the rankings, Otago’s life sciences and medicine areas were ranked 64th in the world overall, compared to 66th in 2017. Otago also secures top 100 faculty rankings for social sciences and management and for arts and humanities.

"They are welcome recognition of the range and quality of our teaching and research across the disciplines, and what we have achieved."

“Broadly speaking, these are stronger results compared to 2017, which was in turn much stronger than 2016,” says Otago’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Vernon Squire.

This year, four of Otago’s top 50 subjects are in the top 30, compared to two in 2017, and there are 15 subjects in the top 100, rather than last year’s 13.

Professor Squire says the results are “very pleasing.”

“They are welcome recognition of the range and quality of our teaching and research across the disciplines, and what we have achieved,” he says.

“I take this opportunity to also recognise the hard work of the staff involved in the many departments that feature in these rankings,” Professor Squire says.

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