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ACU scientists top international research rankings

ACU researchers have once again been named global leaders in psychology, education, humanities, social sciences, and medical sciences based on prestigious new international research rankings.

Professor Richard Ryan and Professor Herb Marsh from ACU’s Institute for Positive Psychology and Education (IPPE), have been named among the world’s top psychology scientists, with Research.com ranking them sixth and eighth respectively.

They were also ranked first and second place in Australia.

Professors Reinhard Pekrun, Joseph Ciarrochi and Johnmarshall Reeve were also placed in the top 100 in Australia for psychology.

Other ACU psychology scientists to be recognised in the top 400 nationally were Professors Chris Lonsdale, Patrick Heaven, Philip Parker, Peter Wilson, Rhonda Craven, David Cooke and Alex Yeung.

World-leading exercise biologist and the director of the high-profile Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Professor John Hawley was named as one of Australia’s top 100 medical scientists.

Professor Louise Burke, a world leader in sports nutrition, and Professor Ester Cerin, a leading researcher on the environmental and psychosocial determinants of lifestyle behaviours and health, were ranked in the top 300 nationally.

Professor John Kanis from MMIHR’s Bone Health and Fractures Research Program was ranked sixth nationally.

Six ACU researchers featured in the top 500 in Australia for humanities and social sciences including education.

Professor Bryan Turner, of the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, and Professor Bob Lingard, of the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, ranked 19 and 22 respectively in Australia.

Also rated as top social sciences and humanities scientists nationally were leading autism researcher Professor Sandra Jones, along with Professors John Gleeson, Susan Edwards and Associate Professor Catherine McLoughlin.

The Research.com rankings are based on the number of published scientific papers and how often they are cited, demonstrating the global reach of ACU academics.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) Professor Abid Khan said the rankings demonstrated the long-standing contribution ACU researchers have made here and overseas.

“These results demonstrate ACU’s strength in its core disciplines, exemplified through its contributions to high-quality publications,” Professor Khan said.

“Congratulations to all researchers who contributed to these excellent outcomes for ACU.”