News Releases

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) begins 2026 with excellent news. Times Higher Education (THE), the gold standard in global higher education rankings, announced that it has risen among the 33,000+ universities and higher degree‑granting institutions in the world.

In the 2025 year-end release of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, which assess institutional performance across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook, only 2,191 universities from 115 countries qualified to be ranked. The UWI continues to rise relatively as the number of universities also increases. It is selected and ranked annually based on criteria of academic excellence. It now stands in the top 3.6% of these 33,000+ institutions.

The Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) joins our regional and global communities in marking the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (November 25 – December 10, 2025). This year, our priority actions focus on:

• Confronting technology-facilitated sexual and gender-based violence in line with the UN theme “UNiTe to End Digital Violence against Women and Girls.”
• Embedding gender and social inclusion in disaster preparedness and recovery, especially in the wake of Hurricane Melissa’s devastating impact across the Caribbean.

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is set to continue its tradition of recognising exceptional individuals who have made significant contributions to their fields. During the 2025 graduation ceremonies, 11 distinguished graduates will be awarded honorary degrees. These ceremonies are scheduled to take place from October 11 to November 8, 2025, across the five UWI campuses.

The University of the West Indies Press (UWI Press) is pleased to announce that two of its publications have received distinguished Caribbean awards. these are: “Near a Plantation: Free Villages of Barbados, 1840-1945” by Professor Emeritus Sir Woodville Marshall, and “Politics in an Island State: Wills O. Isaacs and Jamaica’s Struggle for Development” by Professor Emerita Diane Austin-Broos.

The School for Graduate Studies and Research of The UWI Cave Hill Campus has been officially renamed in honour of Emerita Professor, the Most Honourable V. Eudine Barriteau.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) proudly announces the launch of the One-UWI Transdisciplinary Disaster Risk Management and Resilience Research Cluster—a groundbreaking initiative that underscores the critical need for multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to solving complex research problems tied to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in the area of disaster management.

The following is a statement from Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles on the passing of renowned Caribbean-born scientist, Professor Emeritus Sir Geoff Palmer:
 

The following is a statement from Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, on the passing of Professor Emerita Hazel Simmons-McDonald:
 

The UWI Cave Hill Campus mourns the passing of distinguished academic, Professor Emerita Hazel Simmons- McDonald.
 

A long-standing historical belief that free villages did not emerge in Barbados following emancipation has been firmly challenged by one of the region’s distinguished historians.  Sir Woodville Marshall’s latest work, Near a Plantation: Free Villages of Barbados 1840–1945, offers comprehensive and meticulously researched account of nearly 500 free villages established on the island between 1840 and 1945. The book was launched in March at The UWI Cave Hill Campus.  The publication directly counters a widely cited assertion by historian William Green that “free villages did not arise” in Barbados—a view that has been generally accepted by scholars for decades. Sir Woodville argues that this conclusion was based on an absence of local research and that serious scholarly attention had not previously been given to the post-slavery settlement patterns in Barbados.