Queen's in the World

Results from a university rankings report that evaluates international institutions by subject area place Queen’s among the world’s elite universities in several academic disciplines.

The 2013 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject rank Queen’s within the top 100 schools in six of the 30 subjects evaluated, and in another 13 subjects Queen’s ranked within the top 200 schools.

Queen’s placed particularly high in geography, sitting at 41st spot worldwide, and ranked within the 51-100 range in history, modern languages, philosophy, sociology and economics. In comparison with previous years, the university improved its rankings in geography, philosophy, biological sciences, pharmacy and pharmacology, and environmental sciences, which all placed within the top 200 schools.

“This is wonderful news for Queen’s, as it suggests we are in an elite group of our peers,” says Jim Lee, Vice-Provost (International). “While university rankings are often volatile and inconsistent indicators of quality, what these rankings make clear is that Queen’s has a very strong academic reputation in these fields, which place among the top one per cent of the world’s universities.”

Queen’s placed within the 101-200 range worldwide in the following subjects: accounting and finance, law, education, psychology, politics and international studies, English language and literature, civil engineering, materials science, earth sciences, environmental sciences, biological sciences, pharmacy and pharmacology, and medicine.

The QS World University Rankings by Subject evaluated 2,858 universities and identified 678 institutions among the top 200 in at least one subject. The rankings are based on surveys of academics and employers and two measures of research impact: publication citations and the H-index. During its review process, QS verified 8,391 academic programs and received 70,000 responses from academic experts and graduate recruiters worldwide.

More information on the rankings report and Quacquarelli Symonds is available on the QS website.