The twelfth edition of the QS World University Rankings 2015/16 confirms the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as the world’s top university. ETH Zurich (9th), which breaks into the top ten, while Lausanne’s EPFL (14th) also can claim to be among the world’s truly elite educational institutions.
Both ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne excel across the set of QS’s rigorous criteria: EPFL is in the top fifty for both Life Sciences and Medicine, and Natural Sciences, serving to highlight their place at the forefront of Higher Education research. ETH climbed three places to enter the top ten, mainly due to the high impact of its research in Natural Sciences: it was the 21st-most cited institution worldwide.
Their performances should be seen in the context of uniform Swiss excellence: six of the seven featured Swiss universities are in the top-150 bracket. All seven have top-150 Life Sciences and Medicine faculties, and all seven are in the top-100 universities for attracting foreign staff. These factors can be seen as cause of, and caused by, Switzerland being regarded as the world’s most innovative nation in 2014, ahead of the UK, Sweden, and Finland.
There are numerous factors that contribute to Switzerland’s attractiveness for elite students and academic staff alike, though. For one, Swiss universities have again been ranked as among the most attractive for employers. Three Swiss universities are in the top hundred when ranked by employer reputation, meaning that employers regularly recognize graduates from Swiss institutions as among the most employable. Switzerland’s students enjoy low tuition fees, which apply equally to domestic and international students alike, meaning that elite students don’t feel penalized by choosing to study abroad. This compensates for Switzerland’s high cost of living, and is clearly perceived as a trade-off worth making to study at the world’s top two universities outside of the US and UK.
Global Top 20
|
2015 |
2014 |
Institution |
Country |
|
1 |
1 |
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT) |
US |
|
2 |
4 |
HARVARD UNIVERSITY |
US |
|
3= |
2= |
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE |
UK |
|
3= |
7 |
STANFORD UNIVERSITY |
US |
|
5 |
8 |
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (CALTECH) |
US |
|
6 |
5= |
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD |
UK |
|
7 |
5= |
UCL (UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON) |
UK |
|
8 |
2= |
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON |
UK |
|
9 |
12 |
ETH ZURICH (SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY) |
CH |
|
10 |
11 |
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO |
US |
|
11 |
9 |
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY |
US |
|
12 |
22 |
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE (NUS) |
SG |
|
13 |
39 |
NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY (NTU) |
SG |
|
14 |
17= |
ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FÉDÉRALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL) |
CH |
|
15 |
10 |
YALE UNIVERSITY |
US |
|
16 |
14= |
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY |
US |
|
17 |
19 |
CORNELL UNIVERSITY |
US |
|
18 |
13 |
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
US |
|
19= |
25= |
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY (ANU) |
AU |
|
19= |
16 |
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON (KCL) |
UK |
|
© QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2015 www.TopUniversities.com All rights reserved |
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Switzerland’s other universities more than hold their own in such elite company, though. The University of Geneva manages to attract a higher proportion of international students than ETH, while both the University of Basel (33rd) and the University of Geneva (72nd) are among the hundred most-cited universities worldwide. The University of Zurich is ranked 85th overall, meaning that it’s by no means dwarfed by its illustrious city neighbour. Though Swiss universities fare slightly worse in the Arts and Humanities – no university in Switzerland has a top-100 faculty in this area – the 2015/16 rankings again demonstrate that Switzerland is an educational destination to compete with the world’s most prestigious.
(Press Release)
Picture: ETH Zürich/Esther Ramseier
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