Stellenbosch University (SU) continued its standing as one of Africa's leading universities with the recent release of the 2022 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject.
According to its statement, the QS World University Rankings by Subject “ranks the world's top universities in individual subject areas, covering 51 subjects".
Within the broad subject area category, SU improved its standing in Life Sciences and Medicine from 269 to 265 in the world since last year, and in more specific categories achieved the top ranking of all South African universities in Agriculture and Forestry (76th in the world), as well as Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies (within the top 100 globally).
In addition, the University remains in the top 350 in the world in Arts and Humanities, top 400 in Social Sciences and Management, and top 500 in Natural Sciences in the broad subject area category.
“Stellenbosch University's consistent performance on various international rankings is testimony to the institution's vision of being 'Africa's leading research-intensive university, globally recognised as excellent, inclusive and innovative, where we advance knowledge in service of society'," comments Prof Hester Klopper, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Strategy, Global and Corporate Affairs. “It furthermore attests to Stellenbosch University's ability to draw excellent top achieving students to the University in preparation for their careers."
Stellenbosch University's world-class researchers and academics also continue to excel. In the recent National Research Foundation (NRF) ratings statistics, SU received a record number of newly rated A-rated researchers. A-rated researchers are recognised by their peers as leading international scholars in their respective fields for the high quality and impact of recent research outputs. SU currently has 477 NRF-rated researchers, of which 16 are A-rated.
Although the University does not actively participate in the QS rankings, the subject rankings provide an overview of positioning of each of the disciplines. QS uses five indicators in their rankings. These are:
- academic reputation based on perceptions;
- employer reputation;
- research citations per paper;
- H-index; and
- the added International Research Network
As research cultures and publication rates vary significantly across academic disciplines, the QS World University Rankings by Subject applies a different weighting of the above indicators in each subject.
For more information on the recent rankings, click here.
