ETH Zurich ranks first in the world for 3 subjects, according to QS
QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) unveiled its 2024 World University Rankings by Subject. ETH Zurich landed with 3 subjects in the top spot. A further 14 placed within the top ten in the world.
“Earth and Marine Sciences”, “Geology”, and “Geophysics” all took first place in the subject rankings. A total of 17 of ETH Zurich’s core subjects in fundamental sciences, engineering, and architecture rank among the world’s top ten, and 29 subjects place within the top 100.
A few firsts and a few leaps forward
For the first time, ETH Zurich received rankings for “Data Science and Artificial Intelligence” placing 7th in the world, “Education” (51st), and “Business & Management Studies” (61st). While ETH Zurich did not receive an official rank this year for the broad subject area of Arts and Humanities, within this category the university ranks 4th in the world for “Architecture and Built Environment.”
The broad subject categories also made significant strides forward in the rankings: “Engineering and technology” moved up one to 6th place, “Natural Sciences” held steady at 8th place, “Life Sciences and Medicine” moved up 19 places in the ranking to 51st, and “Social Sciences and Management” moved up 17 places to 54th place.
“As with all rankings, we see the QS World University Ranking by Subject as just one of many perspectives that compare ETH Zurich with other universities. It is pleasing to see that ETH Zurich is continually ranked as one of the top universities in the world in many of the subject areas,” comments Paul Cross, Institutional Research.
ETH Zurich subjects in QS rankings over the past three years
(Editor’s note: an equal sign (=) indicates that the position in the ranking is shared with other institutions)
Access the full QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024 external page here.
How the rankings are derived
Five indicators impact the QS World University Rankings by Subject: Academic and employer reputation surveys, research citations sourced from Elsevier Scopus, International research network / research partnerships, and the “H-index”. What is an H-index? It is a productivity and impact measurement of a researcher, department, or institution. It is calculated by counting the number of papers that have been cited at least as many times.
Swiss knowledge network
ETH Zurich is just one institution in a broader network of Swiss universities and research institutes that contribute to Switzerland’s knowledge economy and international reputation. In this year’s ranking QS editor’s report, “Switzerland boasts the world’s highest concentration of top tier programmes with four (2 percent) placing first. Of Switzerland's total ranked subject entries, three are provided by ETH Zurich, making it Continental Europe’s strongest institution and the fourth best in the world by this measure.”
As a federally funded institution, knowledge transfer to society is an important tenet. ETH Zurich considers its stakeholders in the public and private sectors of society as partners working towards a better tomorrow.
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At ETH Zurich, we do not recommend using the H-index, as it is a poor bibliometric indicator that does not adequately reflect the productivity and impact of researchers. For further information on the appropriate use of bibliometric indicators, please contact the Knowledge Management Group of the ETH Library ().