Eight NTU subjects in global top 10

Singapore: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has overtaken Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Materials Science, and now ranks 1st in the world for the subject. This is released today in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject.

With 8 subject areas ranked in the global top 10, and 25 subjects in the global 50, this is NTU’s best performance in the QS subject rankings, demonstrating its strength and global competitiveness across multiple disciplines.

Thirteen of NTU’s disciplines are ranked among the world’s top 20. They are: Materials Science (1st), Electrical & Electronic Engineering (4th), Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering (5th), Chemical Engineering (6th), Communication & Media Studies (6th), Civil & Structural Engineering (7th), Chemistry (8th), Education (9th), Computer Science & Information Systems (12th), Environmental Sciences (13th), Library & Information Management (18th), Business & Management Studies (20th) and Physics & Astronomy (20th).

In the Faculty rankings (broad subject areas), NTU’s Engineering & Technology is in 4th position, up by four places from last year. NTU also improved its top 20 positions for Natural Sciences (14th) and Social Sciences & Management (17th). NTU’s Arts & Humanities is ranked 41st position, moving up 20 places. NTU’s Life Sciences & Medicines made the biggest jump of 25 places to be ranked 119th position from 144th position.

An NTU spokesperson said, “The QS subject rankings clearly show that our faculty are leading contributors of cutting-edge research in many disciplines, especially in NTU’s established strengths across engineering, science, business, education, and the arts and social sciences that generate a steady flow of ideas to fuel Singapore’s innovation system. In 2020, the US News & World Report also ranked NTU first globally for Materials Science for the fourth consecutive year. The subject areas where NTU is ranked at the top globally represent highly interdisciplinary areas. This is a testament to the achievements of our faculty and students in interdisciplinary education and research, and will position NTU well to address major challenges of importance to Singapore and the world, such as climate change and global pandemics.

“NTU today is a talent magnet, attracting some of the world’s best professors, most promising young scientists and top students. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our professors continue to show immense dedication in educating our students and pursuing their world-class research, which has strengthened NTU’s global reputation. Our graduates have also shown the value of their NTU education and contributed to the university’s enhanced reputation among employers worldwide.”

Broad gains across many subject areas

Out of NTU’s total of 38 subjects appearing in the QS subject rankings, the University improved its ranking in 23 of them.

Commenting on NTU’s performance, Mr Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President at QS said, “Nanyang Technological University can claim to be one of the world’s most-improved institutions over the past year. These improvements are based on NTU’s increasing research power: we have seen the number of NTU programmes scoring 90/100 or more for our research impact indicator increase from 9 to 10, and two of NTU’s departments – Chemistry and Materials Science – receive perfect scores for research productivity. Backed by world-class faculty and sensible strategic investment, we anticipate NTU continuing to drive outstanding research, teaching, and employability outcomes.”

NTU’s Engineering disciplines lead the university’s strong showing in this year’s rankings. Other than clinching the No. 1 spot in Materials Science after being in 3rd position globally for three consecutive years, NTU also did well in Electrical & Electronic Engineering and in Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering which are ranked 4th position and 5th position in the world respectively. Chemical Engineering moved up by five places to 6th position while Civil & Structural Engineering and Computer Science & Information Systems are ranked 7th position and 12th position respectively. All NTU engineering subjects have improved their ranking and are placed in the top 12 globally.

Among its subjects in Natural Sciences, NTU’s Chemistry (8th) retained its global top 10 position, while Mathematics (31st) made the biggest improvement of 18 places, followed by Physics & Astronomy (20th), which climbed 11 places.

NTU’s Nanyang Business School likewise improved its performance, with Business & Management Studies moving up four places to 20th and climbing 20 places since 2018.

Among Social Sciences subjects, NTU’s Communication & Media Studies (6th) is the highest ranked, up by one place from last year, while Library & Information Management is 18th. NTU’s Politics & International Studies jumped the most by 23 places to clinch 31st position globally, its best placing to date.

In the Arts and Humanities, NTU’s Linguistics (31st) climbed 19 places, while Modern Languages (62nd) is up 9 places.

For Life Sciences and Medicine, NTU’s Psychology (27th) and Biological Sciences (33rd) have vaulted 71 places and 23 places respectively in the past three years.

This year’s QS World University Rankings by Subject highlights the world’s top universities in 51 subject areas. The rankings are based on four main indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper and the H-index in the relevant subject.

For more information about the QS Subject Rankings, visit: www.topuniversities.com.

NTU Subjects in the World’s Top 50