Mixed results for Irish colleges in latest World University Rankings 

The Quad at UCC, Cork. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has risen nine places in the latest round of international university rankings, maintaining its position as Ireland’s top-ranked university.

The latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings show the university has increased its position in the 2021 rankings, from 164th to 155th.

It is one of the two Irish universities to improve their rankings this year.

Nine Irish universities feature in the top 1,000 institutions internationally, ranked based on teaching, research citations, international outlook, and industry income.

Dean of Research at Trinity Professor Linda Doyle said the university was “delighted” to see the improvement in its position in the global metric.

“Excellence in research lies at the heart of our identity as a university and has a fundamental influence on our teaching.

"This speaks to the quality of our researchers, who are excelling in difficult times in which funding is harder to come by than ever.” 

Dublin City University (DCU) also improved its ranking this year, from between 601- 700 to 501 - 600 for 2021.

President of DCU Professor Daire Keogh said the university’s performance demonstrates its progress in advancing its reputation for research.

“The advance is a recognition of the hard work, excellence, and expertise of our staff and I want to congratulate them all on this significant global affirmation of their work.” 

The RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, the University of Limerick, University College Cork (UCC), and Technological University Dublin each maintained their rankings for 2021.

University College Dublin (UCD), Maynooth University, and NUI Galway each saw their rankings for 2021 slip slightly.

UCD fell into the top 251-300 category, Maynooth from 301-350 into the 401-500 category, and NUI Galway into the 301-350 category.