
UNSW frequently ranks among the top universities worldwide for mathematics and statistics, and enjoys a long history of number one rankings nationally.
UNSW ranked equal first in Australia for mathematics in the 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), and first in Australia in the 2020, 2019, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 ARWU rankings.
The 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 US News Global Universities Rankings placed us at number one in Australia for mathematics.
In the QS World University Rankings, we ranked first in Australia for mathematics in 2021, second in Australia in 2020 and 2019, and from 2015-2017 we ranked in the top 4 in Australia.
The 2021, 2020 and 2019 NTU Rankings for mathematics also positioned us as first in the country.
UNSW Mathematics and Statistics topped the list for the fields of Algebra and Computational Mathematics in The Australian’s Research Magazine in 2021.
We ranked number one in the country (together with UNSW Computer Science) in the 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 CWTS Leiden Rankings.
Up to 2020, we are the only Australian university to feature in the top 100 in the world for Mathematics in all five of the ARWU, the US News Global Universities, the CWTS Leiden, NTU, and the QS World University Rankings.
In 2020, mathematics was one of the 12 research subjects at UNSW that were ranked first nationally by ARWU.
In 2021, we ranked third in the country, and in the global top 25, for Oceanography in the ARWU rankings.
UNSW Mathematics and Statistics leads nationally in cumulative Discovery Project funding in the mathematical sciences over the past decade, compared to other schools. In addition, it has led the funding awarded nationally in the mathematical sciences in four of the past ten Discovery Project rounds, more than any other.
Additionally, since 2014, the School hosts a node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS). Previously, the School hosted a node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems (MASCOS). The award of a Centre of Excellence is a prestigious recognition of research excellence.
In addition to DP funding in mathematics and statistics, School researchers have been very successful in attracting DP funding in other research areas (particularly in oceanography and marine science) or through other schemes. The School is increasingly successful with ARC Linkage Grants, which fund projects between university and industry partners. Overall, the School attracted $4,482,118 in research income in 2020. As well as being proud of the quality of our research, we are proud of the breadth of our research into mathematics and statistics.
In the most recent (2018) Australian Research Council Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) exercise, UNSW received a perfect score (5/5) in the Mathematical Sciences and our four main areas of research focus: Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics and Oceanography.
We produced the highest number of academic papers published by any Australian school of mathematics between 2004 and 2014 (Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators).
For the decade 2004-14, UNSW ranked second nationally amongst mathematics schools in both total citations and citations per paper in mathematics (Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators).
Professor David Warton featured on the Highly Cited Researchers list for four years in a row (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019).
Individual researchers in the School have received the highest distinctions through Fellowships of Academies, funded research fellowships and research medals. We have hosted three Australian Research Council Laureate Fellows: Gary Froyland (awarded 2023), Fedor Sukochev (awarded 2017), and Trevor McDougall (awarded 2015).
Our academic staff frequently win prestigious awards for their research. Below we have listed some highlights, but you can find more in our News section.
A listing of UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics publications is available on MathSciNet (please note: a MathsSciNet subscription is required for access).