Covid No Damper On World-leading Subject Rankings

Covid-19 created many challenges for the university sector, with teaching and learning having to move quickly online and research conducted through lockdowns and social isolation. But despite this, the University of Auckland maintains its outstanding record of excellence, evidenced by the QS Subject Rankings distributed today (Thursday 4 March NZT).

The University has two subjects in the world’s Top 30, ten in the Top 50 and 30 in the Top 100. Of these pharmacy and pharmacology is the highest rated, followed by education.

Other subjects in the Top 50 include nursing, archaeology, English language and literature, sports-related subjects, geography, performing arts, anthropology, and engineering (civil and structural).

University of Auckland Provost Professor John Morrow says the highly-ranked subjects are spread across the faculties.

“Our leading subjects show a good mixture of arts and humanities, social sciences, medicine and health, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, which is gratifying to see in a comprehensive university such as this.

“There are 51 QS subjects and we are ranked in 43 of them, which again demonstrates our depth.”

Professor Morrow was also pleased to see that of the 43 ranked subjects, the University of Auckland is ranked first in New Zealand in 36 of them, and all subjects in the broad natural sciences category and engineering and technology category are ranked No.1 domestically.

This year there are three new subjects ranked by QS: geology, geophysics, and petroleum engineering. The University of Auckland has ranked in the Top 100 in both geology and geophysics.

Professor Morrow commended University academic staff for their commitment to excellence, which has resulted in leading rankings year on year.

“Our students graduate knowing that the research-informed learning that they experience is indeed world class, which equips them for an increasingly internationally connected future.”

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), specialises in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world and is regarded as one of the most influential university rankings. It compiles the subject rankings by analysing more than 13.9 million unique papers, producing close to 81 million citations. 1453 institutions are ranked across 51 subjects grouped into five broad subject areas.

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