THE University of the West of Scotland (UWS) is celebrating its second year of increase in the Times Higher Education’s (THE) World University Rankings.

The latest results see UWS climb into the top 501- 600 category in the global ranking system, building on the 601 - 800 category in last year’s rankings. The results also see the University jump four positions in the UK rankings to joint 60th out of a possible 93 institutions.

The World University Rankings assess 1,120 universities from 77 countries worldwide.

The organisation cites the rankings as: “…the only global performance tables that judge researchintensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook” to provide “…the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments”.

Commenting on the latest results, UWS Principal & ViceChancellor Professor Craig Mahoney said: “It is testament to the hard work and effort of colleagues across the institution. I’m immensely proud of what we have achieved.”

Dr Waiyin Hatton, Chair of the University Court added: “This is truly fantastic news.”

In compiling the rankings THE uses 13 performance indicators across teaching (the learning environment); research (volume, income and reputation); citations (research influence); international outlook (staff, students and research); and industry income (knowledge transfer).

Of particular note in UWS’ results, was the score attained for citations, capturing the number of times a university’s published work is cited by scholars.

UWS ranked 347th out of the 1,100+ institutions.

The University’s highest ranked area was for International Outlook – a ranking of 298th. International Outlook measures the ratios of domestic and international students and staff, and international collaboration.