James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university’s main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairns and Townsville, and one in the city state of Singapore. JCU also has study centres in Mount Isa, Mackay, Thursday Island and Rockhampton A Brisbane campus, operated by Russo Higher Education, delivers undergraduate and postgraduate courses to international and domestic students. The university’s main fields of research include environmental sciences, biological sciences, mathematical sciences, earth sciences, agricultural and veterinary sciences, technology and medical and health sciences.
In 2015, JCU Singapore earned the distinction of being the first private education institution to attain the EduTrust Star quality mark from the Singapore Government.
In 2022, JCU was ranked within the top 300 academic universities worldwide by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. JCU has consistently ranked in the top 400 since 2010, as measured by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). In 2017, JCU was ranked No. 1 in the world for Marine & Freshwater Biology and No. 2 in the world for Biodiversity Conservation by the Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR).
In 2020, JCU was ranked 29th of the world’s universities aged 50 years or younger in the Times Higher Education (THE) Best Young Universities in the World.
JCU was awarded five stars for full-time employment, undergraduate and postgraduate starting salary, learner engagement and social equity by the 2022 Good Universities Guide.
In the Commonwealth Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia 2018 National Report, JCU research was rated world-class or above in 83% of research fields evaluated, up from 78% in 2015. This included the highest possible rating of well above world standard in 8 research areas and world standard in another 30 research areas.