QS ranks ETH Zurich in world’s top 10 for 16 subjects

International higher education think tank, QS releases its World University Rankings by Subject. Sixteen ETH Zurich disciplines place in the top 10 contributing to Switzerland’s place as the third best in the world’s higher education sector.
QS World University Rankings by Subject reveal how ETH Zurich measures up in terms of its academic and employer reputation, citations, and impact. (Image: ETH Zurich / Alessandro Della Bella)

The international higher education think tank, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has just released its 2022 World University Rankings by Subject. ETH Zurich, identified as “Continental Europe’s top university,” maintained its first-place rankings in Earth and Marine Sciences, Geology, and Geophysics. Out of the twenty-six disciplines considered at the university, 16 rank among the top 10 in the world.

Rising and holding steady

In addition to the top-ranked subjects, 69 percent either increased or held steady in the subject rankings. These broad topical areas increased their standing: Engineering - Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing, Economics and Econometrics, Accounting and Finance, Engineering - Electrical and Electronic, Engineering - Civil and Structural, Materials Science, Statistics and Operational Research, Engineering – Chemical, Biological Sciences, Computer Science and Information Systems.

Holding steady in the rankings are Architecture and the Built Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Physics and Astronomy, Sports-related subjects, and Law. These subjects maintained their rankings while other subjects slipped slightly.   

Switzerland ranks among the world’s top 3

ETH Zurich also achieved high marks in certain subjects. Earth and Marine Sciences, for instance, earned a perfect score for Academic Reputation. Geophysics earned high marks for Employer Reputation. Finally, Social Policy and Administration and Environmental Sciences earned high marks for Research Citations.

The university’s achievements contribute to Switzerland’s standing as the world’s third best higher education sector. President Joël Mesot commented, “While rankings cannot tell the whole story, it is encouraging to see ETH Zurich from the perspective of an external organisation. The commitment to excellence demonstrated by our scientists and researchers benefits not only Switzerland, but the whole world.”  

Ben Sowter, QS Senior Vice President, explains ETH Zurich’s success with its international outlook – both in terms of faculty body and research and its strong relationships with industry.

About the QS World University Rankings by Subject

QS Quacquarelli Symonds – international higher education think-tank – released the 2022 edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject: an independent comparative analysis on the performance of 15,200 individual university programs, taken by students at 1543 universities in 88 locations across the world, across 51 academic disciplines. Compared with other rankings systems, the QS World University Rankings by Subject places a heavy emphasis – between 40 – 60 percent depending on the discipline - on academic reputation for a given discipline. The subject ranking methodology also includes citations of published scientific work, employer reputation, impact in terms of stability and quality of science and scholarly publications (H-Index), and finally it includes a measure of international research collaborations (International Research Network) at the level of broad subject area which are not reported here.