27 Best universities for Applied/Engineering Physics in Australia

Updated: March 15, 2026

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in Australia ranked based on their research performance in Applied/Engineering Physics. A graph of 379K citations received by 8.77K academic papers made by 27 universities in Australia was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. University of New South Wales

Australia | Sydney

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#1 in Oceania

#32 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 60%
Enrollment: 63,864
Founded: 1949

2. Australian National University

Australia | Canberra

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#2 in Oceania

#113 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 71%
Founded: 1946

3. University of Queensland

Australia | St Lucia

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#3 in Oceania

#133 in the World

Enrollment: 48,771
Founded: 1909

4. University of Melbourne

Australia | Melbourne

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#5 in Oceania

#169 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 77%
Enrollment: 77,162
Founded: 1853

5. University of Wollongong

Australia | Wollongong

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#6 in Oceania

#183 in the World

Enrollment: 31,313
Founded: 1975

6. University of Sydney

Australia | Sydney

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#7 in Oceania

#195 in the World

Enrollment: 63,602
Founded: 1850

7. Monash University

Australia | Clayton

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#8 in Oceania

#217 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 73%
Enrollment: 78,000
Founded: 1958

8. RMIT University

Australia | Melbourne

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#9 in Oceania

#332 in the World

Founded: 1887

9. University of Technology Sydney

Australia | Sydney

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#10 in Oceania

#334 in the World

Founded: 1965

10. University of South Australia

Australia | Adelaide

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#11 in Oceania

#356 in the World

Founded: 1991

11. Queensland University of Technology

Australia | Brisbane

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#12 in Oceania

#390 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 77%
Founded: 1989

12. University of Adelaide

Australia | Adelaide

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#13 in Oceania

#415 in the World

Enrollment: 25,000
Founded: 1874

13. University of Western Australia

Australia | Crawley

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#14 in Oceania

#434 in the World

Enrollment: 25,000
Founded: 1911

14. Griffith University

Australia | Brisbane

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#15 in Oceania

#451 in the World

Founded: 1971

15. Swinburne University of Technology

Australia | Hawthorn

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#16 in Oceania

#481 in the World

Founded: 1908

16. Deakin University

Australia | Geelong

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#17 in Oceania

#522 in the World

Enrollment: 34,616
Founded: 1974

17. Macquarie University

Australia | Sydney

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#18 in Oceania

#556 in the World

Enrollment: 38,747
Founded: 1964

18. Curtin University

Australia | Perth

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#19 in Oceania

#615 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 56%
Enrollment: 58,607
Founded: 1966

19. University of Southern Queensland

Australia | Toowoomba

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#20 in Oceania

#647 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Founded: 1967

20. Flinders University

Australia | Adelaide

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#23 in Oceania

#721 in the World

Founded: 1966

21. University of Newcastle

Australia | Callaghan

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#24 in Oceania

#768 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 80%
Founded: 1965

22. University of Tasmania

Australia | Hobart

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#26 in Oceania

#891 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 72%
Enrollment: 33,879
Founded: 1890

23. La Trobe University

Australia | Melbourne

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#29 in Oceania

#1091 in the World

Enrollment: 7,500
Founded: 1964

24. James Cook University

Australia | Townsville

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#30 in Oceania

#1164 in the World

Founded: 1970

25. Western Sydney University

Australia | Penrith

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#31 in Oceania

#1232 in the World

Enrollment: 37,426
Founded: 1989

26. Edith Cowan University

Australia | Joondalup

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#32 in Oceania

#1364 in the World

Founded: 1991

27. University of Canberra

Australia | Canberra

For Applied/Engineering Physics

#33 in Oceania

#1433 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 78%
Enrollment: 17,576
Founded: 1967

The best cities to study Applied/Engineering Physics in Australia based on the number of universities and their ranks are Sydney, Canberra, St Lucia, and Melbourne.

Physics subfields in Australia

Acoustical Engineering39

Astrobiology28

Astrophysics and Astronomy39

Atomic and Molecular physics29

Biophysics28

Condensed Matter Physics32

Optical Engineering39

Quantum and Particle physics39

Theoretical Physics31