UNSW Engineering ranked first in Australia in Times Higher Education subject rankings

The 2021 rankings also see UNSW Business School, Social Sciences, Medicine and Science subjects move up the list.

UNSW Sydney has claimed Australia’s top spot for both engineering and technology, and for computer science, in the Times Higher Education (THE) World Rankings by Subject.

The rankings, which are usually released in stages, were released en masse this year, spotlighting the universities leading the world in different subject areas. Rankings are based on 13 performance indicators across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

UNSW moved up 11 places for engineering and technology, entering the top 50 for the first time at 48^th.

Computer science saw the most progress of any UNSW subject, climbing 25 places in the global league table to 54th and making the leap to first place in Australia from equal third a year earlier.

There were significant gains for UNSW in almost every other field.

Law retained its spot among the top 20 in the world at 19^th. In business and economics, UNSW climbed six places from 63^rd to 57^th. UNSW Business School sits at third in Australia – a position it has held since 2017.

In the sciences, UNSW jumped 23 places to 75^th in physical sciences and 18 places to 34^th in psychology. Over a two-year period, UNSW Medicine has moved up 34 places to 57^th in clinical, pre-clinical and health.

In the social sciences, and arts and humanities, UNSW progressed 12 places from 99^th to 87^th and 11 places from 144^th to 133^rd respectively.

In highlighting the solid performance across the board, UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Nicholas Fisk, noted that UNSW had improved a median of 11 places over each of 10 broad discipline areas.

"That is an amazing result," he said, "with the gains largely attributable to UNSW's burgeoning research reputation and citations." 

“These latest rankings showcase UNSW’s strength across a broad range of disciplines, as well as the momentum behind Strategy 2025,” Professor Fisk said. "The result is thanks to the commitment and excellence of so many talented academics and researchers across the University in both teaching and research."

This rise in THE subject rankings comes off the back of UNSW’s strong performance in the 2021 THE World University Rankings where UNSW moved up four places to 67^th.

Read the 2021 THE World University Rankings by subject.