ETH earth sciences best in the world

ETH Zurich's earth scientists performed especially well in the QS Rankings by Subject, achieving the top ranking among all universities worldwide. ETH's environmental sciences faculty also rank among the best in the world.

Enlarged view: Etna eruption
ETH's earth scientists have leaped to the top in the latest QS Ranking by Subjects. (Photo: iStock.com/rz_design)

University Rankings by Subject. The university is now ranked number one in earth and marine sciences according to the global comparison. These results were recently published by the QS Ranking organisation. A year ago, ETH's earth sciences faculty ranked ninth. At that time, Harvard University held the top spot, followed by the University of Cambridge (UK) and the University of California, Berkeley, which now ranks second. Harvard occupies the third spot.

ETH's earth sciences faculty received the highest ratings in the categories "Academic reputation" and "Citations per paper".

The QS Ranking by Subjects also includes other subjects taught at ETH Zurich: the best again include environmental sciences (3rd place – same as previous year), electrical & electronic engineering (5th – same as previous year), architecture & civil engineering (7th – not previously ranked), chemistry (8th – previous year 7th), statistics & applied mathematics (8th), computer science (9th – previous year 8th), mathematics (9th), physics & astronomy (9th), and biological sciences (10th – same as previous year).

QS compared a total of 36 subjects ranging from dentistry and engineering to architecture; in total, 22 ETH subjects were assessed and 20 were ranked in the list.

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015

The QS World University Rankings are one of several tools used to compare universities around the globe. ETH Zurich performs consistently well in these rankings, and is typically the best-placed university in continental Europe. According to the overall QS World University Rankings last autumn, ETH achieved 12th place worldwide. The QS Rankings are based on various weighted indicators. These include, for example, the frequency with which published research is cited in other research publications, as well as a reputation-based survey of some 90,000 academics and employers worldwide.

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