.svg) | |
| Formation | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit organisation |
| Headquarters | Canberra, ACT |
| Location |
|
| Membership | Adelaide University Australian National University Monash University University of Melbourne University of New South Wales University of Queensland University of Sydney University of Western Australia |
| Website | www |
TheGroup of Eight (Go8 orG8) comprises Australia's most research intensive universities (in alphabetical order) –Adelaide University, theAustralian National University,Monash University,University of Melbourne,University of New South Wales,University of Queensland,University of Sydney, andUniversity of Western Australia. It is often compared to theRussell Group of research universities in theUnited Kingdom.[1]
The Go8 universities are some of the largest and the oldest universities in Australia[2] and are consistently the highest ranked of all Australian universities. Seven of the Go8 members are ranked in the world's top 100 universities and all Go8 members are ranked in the world's top 150 universities; in theAcademic Ranking of World Universities, theTimes Higher Education World University Rankings, theQS World University Rankings and theU.S. News & World Report. Go8 Universities feature in the top 50 for every broad subject area in the QS world university subject rankings. In addition, all Go8 Universities are in the QS top 100 for Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Medicine, Arts and Humanities, and Social Sciences and Management.[3]
The Go8 educates 425,000 students; educating more than one quarter of all higher education students in Australia. It graduates some 110,000 graduates each year.[3]
The Go8 undertakes 70 per cent of Australia's university research and their research funding from industry and other non-Government sources is twice that of the rest of the sector combined.[3]
The Go8 receives 71 per cent of Australian Competitive Grant (Category 1) funding and had the largest proportion of research fields rated at 4 or 5 ('above' or 'well above' world standard) in the latestExcellence in Research for Australia (ERA) exercise, with 99 per cent of Go8 research is world class or above. Each year the Go8 spends some $6.5 billion on research – more than $2.4 billion of which is spent on Medical and Health Services research. Go8 universities educate more than half of Australia's doctors, dentists, vets and provide some 54 per cent of Australia's science graduates and more than 40 per cent of Australia's engineering graduates.[4]
The Go8 Board, which consists of the vice-chancellors (who also serve as principals or presidents) of its eight member universities, meets five times a year. The current Chair of the Board is Professor Mark Scott AO, Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Sydney, appointed in 2024. Vicki Thomson is the Chief Executive of the Group of Eight, taking up the role in January 2015.[5]
| University | City | Established | International Rankings | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | QS World (2025)[6] | THE World (2025)[7] | US News (2023)[8] | ARWU World (2023)[9] | Scimago (2022)[10] | URAP (2022)[11] | NTU (2022)[12] | Leiden (2022)[13][note 1] | |||||
| Australian National University | Canberra | 1946 | 129 | 30 | 73 | 62 | 84 | 232 | 161 | 150 | 236 | ||
| University of Melbourne | Melbourne | 1853 | 27 | 13 | 39 | 27 | 35 | 29 | 22 | 20 | 29 | ||
| University of Sydney | Sydney | 1850 | 36 | 18 | 61 | 28 | 73 | 34 | 18 | 26 | 33 | ||
| University of New South Wales | Sydney | 1949 | 51 | 19 | 83 | 37= | 72 | 62 | 35 | 44 | 52 | ||
| University of Queensland | Brisbane | 1909 | 47 | 40= | 77 | 36 | 51 | 60 | 36 | 33 | 45 | ||
| Monash University | Melbourne | 1958 | 48 | 37 | 58 | 37= | 77 | 58 | 32 | 35 | 50 | ||
| University of Western Australia | Perth | 1911 | 136 | 77 | 149= | 83 | 101–150 | 224 | 119 | 111 | 200 | ||
| Adelaide University | Adelaide | 1874 | 141 | 82= | 128= | 74= | 151–200 | 200 | 150 | 113 | 209 | ||
Equals signs (=) denote tied rankings.
