NZ's strengths in world ranking of university disciplines

New Zealand’s specialist strengths shown in new world ranking of university disciplines

New Zealand universities feature prominently in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, a global ranking that compares universities across 29 individual disciplines.

The ranking, released today on www.topuniversities.com , features over 600 universities from 27 countries in the world. With over 50,000 responses from academics and employers, it is the largest survey of its kind to date. Three new subjects, communication and media studies, education, pharmacy and pharmacology, were added to the series of rankings this year.

6 New Zealand universities featured in the top 200 of at least one discipline with Victoria University of Wellington ranking the highest for law (23). The University of Auckland was the most prominently featured university in the country, ranking in all but one subject: physics and astronomy.

University of Otago, Massey University, University of Canterbury and University of Waikato also featured.

New Zealand universities in the top 50

Ben Sowter, head of research at QS says, “With latest OECD figures showing 10% uplift in international student mobility, his year’s geographically diverse list of universities showcases the excellence of institutions from all corners of the world, shedding light on more institutions than ever for students looking to study abroad.”

“Global competition to develop research capacity and attract international talent is shaking up the established order.” Sowter continues, “The financial crisis has eroded the ability of leading universities in the US and UK to monopolize world-class researchers and students. New Zealand has some world class universities in a wide range of specialist disciplines and the ranking clearly puts the country among the global elite in these subjects.”

The methodology behind each of the 29 subjects ranked is based on academic reputation, employer reputation, and citations per paper. The weighting of each criterion varies according to the individual subject ranked.

For the full methodology and results, visit www.topuniversities.com

ENDS

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