A university's Lanarkshire campus has become the highest ranked sports science research institute in Scotland.
The £110m state-of-the-art facility based at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) in Hamilton received the huge accolade in the prestigious Shanghai Ranking - a global league table of world university rankings.
As well as the university’s Institute of Clinical Exercise and Health Science being placed as the highest ranked Scottish institution, it was also named equal fourth in the UK and within the top 75 sport science research institutes across the world.
Professor Nicholas Sculthorpe, who leads the Institute told Lanarkshire Live : “We are incredibly proud to see the Institute recognised, especially given the prestige of the Shanghai Ranking.
"Colleagues from within the Institute are involved in research that is globally-relevant and impactful and with this ranking result, we can demonstrate that the research produced at UWS is some of the very best in the world.”
The Lanarkshire campus is responsible for some of UWS’s leading research, covering sport and exercise science, coaching science, and broader national and international health challenges.
It is home to Scotland’s highest-specification environmental chamber - one of only two in the country and the only one in the West of Scotland, used by Olympians and elite athletes.
The facilities also include a cardiovascular imaging suite, including state-of-the art cardiac and vascular ultrasound.
Those within the institute work with professional football teams such as Celtic, to support the monitoring, assessment, and development of its elite youth academy players, as well as ground-breaking studies exploring the impact of menstruation on elite sporting performance and players’ experiences.
Professor Milan Radosavljevic, vice-principal of research, innovation and engagement, told us: “The recent Shanghai Ranking result is a phenomenal achievement for the institute.
"Colleagues should be incredibly proud of this fantastic recognition, which showcases research which is making a difference worldwide in the areas of sport and exercise science.
“The knowledge and expertise of the team at UWS is truly world-leading and clearly sought after by elite sporting organisations.
"I’d like to extend a huge and deserved congratulations to everyone working within the Institute for this success.”
The Shanghai Ranking allows sport-related institutions and units to compare with similar peers other than multi-disciplinary universities in a specific subject.
The top 300 universities are listed based on the measurement of publication, citation, citations per publication, top 25 per cent journal publications, and internationally collaborated publications.
You can view the full Shanghai Ranking here.
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