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    Here are the world's top universities for these 54 subjects
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    1. As the only global league table to originate from Asia, the annual publication by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy is often praised for the objectivity, stability and transparency of its methodology.

    Its annual Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2019 was recently released, ranking approximately 4,000 universities according to these subject areas: Natural Sciences, Engineering, Life Sciences, Medical Sciences and Social Sciences. In total, 54 subjects under these broad areas of study were listed.

    American universities dominated, topping the tables in 35 subjects and appearing 4,808 times. China took top position in 11 subjects and its universities had the second highest number of appearances (2451 times), ahead of the UK (1554 appearances). In 10 engineering subjects, Chinese universities claimed the top position.

    Speaking to Asia Times, Deputy Director of the Institute of Science and Technology Management of Zhejiang University Science and Education Strategy Institute, Lin Chenghua, said there was a huge gap in the superiority of the US which reflected China’s structural shortcomings.

    While maintaining and promoting a competitive edge in engineering, China should increase investment in other courses such as Natural Science and Social Sciences, Chenghua explained.

    Four universities appear in 52 research disciplines – University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of British Columbia, McGill University and the University of New South Wales (UNSW). No other universities surpassed this figure.

    UNSW scored the most subjects (13) ranked first in Australia for the second consecutive year. It was also listed as having the most number of subjects ranked for the third year in a row.

    UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Nicholas Fisk, said: “Today’s results in these prestigious rankings underscore the breadth, depth and consistency of UNSW research across almost the whole range of disciplines. Off the back of recent success in various national and international rankings, this supports UNSW not only as a leader in research quality and impact, but also for our research reach.”

    But the university with the best performance was Harvard, which placed first in 14 subjects – seven of which are social science subjects, three from medical sciences, two from life sciences and two from engineering. It’s followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with five top positions, four of which fall within engineering.

    Fields Subject Institution Name Country/Region
    Natural Sciences Mathematics Princeton University USA
    Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    (MIT)
    USA
    Chemistry University of California, Berkeley USA
    Earth Sciences University of Colorado at Boulder USA
    Geography University of Oxford UK
    Ecology University of Montpellier France
    Oceanography University of Washington USA
    Atmospheric Science University of Colorado at Boulder USA
    Engineering Mechanical Engineering University of Cambridge UK
    Electrical & Electronic Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA
    Automation & Control University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign USA
    Telecommunication   Engineering Tsinghua University China
    Instruments Science & Technology Harbin Institute of Technology China
    Biomedical Engineering Harvard University USA
    Computer Science
    & Engineering
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA
    Civil
    Engineering
    Tongji University China
    Chemical
    Engineering
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA
    Materials Science & Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA
    Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Nanyang Technological University Singapore
    Energy Science & Engineering Nanyang Technological University Singapore
    Environmental Science & Engineering Stanford University USA
    Water Resources University of Arizona USA
    Food Science & Technology Jiangnan University China
    Biotechnology Harvard University USA
    Aerospace Engineering Beihang University China
    Marine/Ocean Engineering Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
    Transportation Science & Technology Beijing Jiaotong University China
    Remote Sensing Wuhan University China
    Mining & Mineral Engineering Central South University China
    Metallurgical Engineering University of Science and Technology
    Beijing
    China
    Life Sciences Biological Sciences Harvard University USA
    Human Biological Sciences Harvard University USA
    Agricultural Sciences University of Wageningen Netherlands
    Veterinary Sciences Ghent University Belgium
    Clinical Medicine University of California, San
    Francisco
    USA
    Public Health Harvard University USA
    Dentistry & Oral Sciences University of Michigan-Ann Arbor USA
    Nursing University of Pennsylvania USA
    Medical Technology Harvard University USA
    Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences Harvard University USA
    Social Sciences Economics University of Chicago USA
    Statistics Harvard University USA
    Law Harvard University USA
    Political Sciences Harvard University USA
    Sociology Harvard University USA
    Education Michigan State University USA
    Communication University of Amsterdam Netherlands
    Psychology Harvard University USA
    Business Administration University of Pennsylvania USA
    Finance New York University USA
    Management Harvard University USA
    Public Administration Indiana University Bloomington USA
    Hospitality & Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University China-Hong Kong
    Library & Information Science Harvard University USA

    The GRAS 2019 ranked universities based on several measures, including research productivity, research quality, extent of international collaboration, research and the highest academic recognitions.

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