Also continues to rise in 12 subjects in QS world university rankings
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) continues the march up in international university standings — breaking into the top 10 of the world university subject rankings.
For the first time, NTU has three subjects ranked among the world’s top ten. The 2014 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject, released today, places NTU’s Communication & Media Studies 6th in the world, while Materials Science is 8th and Electrical & Electronic Engineering is 10th.
Communication & Media Studies jumped an impressive 17 positions within two years since QS started ranking this subject, to become Number 1 in Singapore and in the Asia-Pacific. Materials Science and Electrical & Electronic Engineering are also among the star performers with the biggest improvements over the last three years. At 8th place, Materials Science has vaulted 33 places since 2011, while 10th-placed Electrical & Electronic Engineering has leapt 26 places within the same period.
NTU now has 5 disciplines ranked among the world’s top 20, and 10 disciplines in the top 30. Besides the three subjects in the top 10, the others are: Mechanical & Aeronautical & Manufacturing (12th), Education (14th), Computer Science & Information Systems (21st), Civil & Structural Engineering (21st), Chemical Engineering (25th), Accounting & Finance (28th) and Statistics and Operational Research (30th).
The QS Subject Rankings were launched in 2011 and provide a guide to a range of popular fields of study in universities around the world. The rankings were based on the combined responses from academics and employers around the world, as well as citations measures.
NTU President Professor Bertil Andersson said that although NTU is almost a toddler in the academic world, it stands tall amongst the sages established decades and even centuries ago.
“We are a very young university, compared to those with a long and rich history, with many academic treasures and heirlooms built up over the years. So Singapore should be proud that NTU continues to impress academics and employers worldwide, with strong citations for research by our professors and faculty. The results also reflect the quality of NTU’s innovative and industry-relevant programmes, which continue to attract very high calibre students,” he said.
“The result for Communication and Media Studies is an affirmation of the international standing of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. NTU’s global reputation as one of the world’s biggest engineering university which produces top quality graduates is validated again in the high rankings of its engineering subjects, with Materials Science and Electrical & Electronic Engineering rubbing shoulders this year with the big boys such as MIT, Stanford and Cambridge in the top 10,” Prof Andersson added.
Overall, NTU improved in 12 out of 23 subjects, and held steady in another three.
NTU fared well in other arts, humanities and social science subjects, particularly Politics & International Studies (35th), Linguistics (42nd), Psychology (45th) and English Language & Literature (46th). Mathematics and Environmental Sciences were both ranked 48th.
The three biggest leaps were made by English Language & Literature, Politics & International Studies, and Linguistics. English Language & Literature made the biggest jump of 38 positions from last year, while Politics & International Studies climbed 20 places, and Linguistics 16 places. Chemistry (44th) is one of the subjects that jumped 30 places or more within the last three years. The other big risers from 2011 include Linguistics, up by 45 places, and Computer Science & Information Systems, up by 30 places.
The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2014 evaluated 2,809 universities and ranked 1,344 institutions in total. More information about the QS Subject Rankings is available at: www.topuniversities.com