Times Higher Education has released its subject specific world university rankings 2023 on October 25, 2022. According to the latest rankings of THE, majority of the top 10 rankings across various subjects are dominated by the US and UK universities. The universities in UK achieved a significant increase in number of representations in each table, replacing some universities in USA. Universities in Saudi Arabia have demonstrated improvement in several subject areas. The changes observed in a few of the 13 subject areas are provide below:
Computer Science Rankings by THE
The Technical University of Munich has made its way in the top 10 list for Computer Science, improving from #14 in 2022 to #10 in 2023. The university was ranked at #9 in 2017. The number of US universities in the top 10 list for Computer Science has decreased from 6 to 5.
The number of US universities in the top 300 list has slightly dropped from 72 in 2022 to 71 in 2023. Saudi Arabia has experienced the highest increase in the number of universities in the top 300 list from 2 to 5 in 2023. China has 17 universities in the top 300, down from 20 in 2022.
Engineering Rankings by THE
The 2023 Times Higher Education rankings for Engineering has altogether remained unchanged with several countries improving their position in top 300. Saudi Arabia has 7 universities ranked among the top 300 universities in USA. The number of UK universities in the top 300 list has increased from 37 to 34. The number of Engineering Universities in USA among the top 300 list has decreased from 85 in 2022 to 76 in 2023.
Business and Economics Rankings by THE
In the top 10 universities list for Business and Economics, Tsinghua University, a Chinese institution has made its place for the first time. Tsinghua University has improved from #11 rank in 2022 to #8 in 2023. Currently, China has 24 universities in the top 300 list, up from 21 universities in 2022. China is the 3rd most represented country in the top 300 list with 24 universities in 2023, up from 21 in 2022.
The USA has 6 universities in the top 10 list, down from 7 in last year. Even with a decrease from 69 to 63 representations, USA still holds the first position in maximum number of universities in the top 300 list.
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Clinical and Health Studies Rankings by THE
The UK has secured 5 places among the top 10 in Clinical and Health studies, improving from 4 in the previous year. Johns Hopkins University has dropped from #9 in 2022 to #11 in 2023, decreasing the number of US universities in top 10 to 3.
The number of universities in USA among the top 300 list have decreased from 60 in 2022 to 52 in 2023. Iran has experienced the maximum improvement with 5 universities ranked in the top 300 in 2023 from only 1 university in 2022. Saudi Arabia has experienced good growth from 2 to 5 institutions. Italy has 9 institutions in 2023, improving from 6 in 2022.
Physical Sciences Rankings by THE
Saudi Arabia has demonstrated a significant growth in the number of universities for Physical Sciences in the top 300 list. 6 universities in Saudi Arabia now rank among the top 300 universities for Physical Sciences, up from 2 in 2022. King Abdulaziz University ranks at #47, improving from #90 in 2022. 74 US universities now rank among the top 300 in USA, down from 78.
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Phil Baty, chief knowledge officer at THE said: “THE World University Rankings by Subject provide further evidence of a clear trend we saw in the overall World Rankings earlier this month: the traditional dominance of the US in international higher education and research is waning. It has been widely pointed out that federal spending on research and development in the US, as a proportion of total spending, is at a seven-decade low and we have witnessed worrying defunding of America’s great state universities. It looks like this is all starting to take its toll on the US’ global competitiveness in research and innovation.”
Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, said of the US’ performance: “What we are seeing is relative decline because later-coming other countries are now improving their performance faster than the US. We no longer live in a world in which the US is absolutely dominant in every sphere of life. In 1960 the US performed 70 per cent of the world’s R&D. You could say that ever since then, US higher education and science systems have been ‘in decline’ because the relative position has been eroding. Now we live in a multipolar world and this alleged decline, if it is a decline, will continue.
He also added, “Even though they might be a bit nostalgic for the time when the US was absolutely and always number one, few in US universities would say that the rise of other countries in higher education is a bad thing”.
The national strategy of Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030, aims to include at least 5 universities from Saudi Arabia among the top 200 universities. The plan targets for a balanced financial model, and higher education.
According to Professor Marginson, Saudi Arabia’s “mega-investment” in research capacity is paying off, and “beginning to achieve its goal of lifting the global standing of the country and its higher education institutions. The harder challenge is to effectively integrate what is clearly a stronger higher education system with the economy and society – in what is still largely a commodity economy with narrow scope for utilization of original science and high skill knowledge-intensive labour”.
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