Media releases

Federation University Australia’s highly renowned hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism disciplines have been placed in the top hundred globally by the prestigious Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects for Universities in 2017.

“This ranking is an extremely strong research achievement for Federation University Australia and our Business School,” Professor Leigh Sullivan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), said.

“The university is very proud of our hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism researchers and academics who have contributed to this stellar ranking.”

The University was placed in the 71 – 100 bracket of the rankings.

The Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects are made on the basis of: 

• number of publications in the subject area (the threshold for consideration is 25),  
• the normalised citation impact, 
• the percentage papers with international collaboration, and
• the number of academic staff in the area winning a significant award. 

The four main current FedUni academic staff who have contributed to the research are:

• Senior Lecturer Chris Mesagno for publications mainly in sports psychology: He is an expert in stress and anxiety in sport and exercise, especially on improving performance and minimising ‘choking under pressure’ in sport.
• Senior Research Fellow Jack Harvey for publications in several areas of sports science: He has provided statistical input to a wide range of research studies involving other staff and postgraduate students across the Faculty of Health, and other Australian and international collaborators.
• Associate Professor Rochelle Eime for publications mainly in sports participation: She has been instrumental in the Sport and Recreation Spatial, which integrates data about sport and recreation participation, sport and recreation facilities, population demographics and population health from multiple data custodians.
• Associate Professor Elisa Backer for a very highly cited publication in tourism management: She is the world's leader in the field of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel research, the largest form of travel in the world.

Former staff member Associate Professor Warren Young also has extensively published and supervised post-graduate student research in the area of physical preparation for sport.

Professor Penny Paliadelis, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health, said the ranking reinforced the University’s high reputation in sports science and health.

“We have world-class researchers in these fields who are attracting many students keen to study at FedUni,” Professor Paliadelis said.  

Associate Professor Bob O’Shea, Executive Dean of the Federation Business School, said tourism and leisure were booming and should have enormous futures.

“The Federation Business School is very attuned to growing industries and future potential. We are delighted our important work is being recognised in this way.”