World University Rankings by Subject 2026: out now

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States leads the rankings with first place in three subject rankings: Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, and Social Sciences 

• Times Higher Education publishes university rankings in 11 subject areas, using the same rigorous methodology as its overall World University Rankings, deploying 18 performance metrics across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and internationalisation to provide the world’s most comprehensive and balanced subject rankings 

• United States tops eight subject rankings 

• United Kingdom is number one in three subject rankings 

• University of Cambridge takes a number one spot for first time since 2022, topping the Psychology table 

• China enters top 10 for first time in Computer Science and Physical Sciences – and has seven top-10 places across the subject rankings overall, up from four last year  

• Three Asian universities in top 10 for Business and Economics for the first time 

• Australia rejoins top 10 in Law with University of Melbourne in eighth place 

• Mainland Europe has one top-10 university: ETH Zurich in Switzerland is third for Computer Science and ninth in Physical Sciences 

• Scroll down for all 11 top-10 tables

The United States and United Kingdom dominate the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject top 10s, but East Asia is making significant strides forward at the top of the tables, demonstrating the region’s growing strength in competing at the very highest levels.  

China is the best performing Asian country at the top of the rankings with seven top-10 places, up from four last year. Peking University has become the first Chinese university to join the top 10 in Computer Science in 10th place, up from 12th. Meanwhile, Tsinghua University is the first Chinese university to make the top 10 for Physical Sciences in 10th place. And in Engineering, Peking University rises to eighth position from 11th, giving Asia two universities in the top 10, as Singapore’s National University of Singapore is tenth. 

Singapore also enters the top 10 for Business and Economics with NUS in joint 10th position – bringing the total number of top-10 Asian universities for Business and Economics to three – and joins the Arts and Humanities top 20 as NUS rises to 19th place from 25th. Meanwhile, Hong Kong remains in the top 10 for Education with University of Hong Kong in seventh place, down from sixth. 

Globally, US university MIT tops the highest number of rankings, coming first in three subjects: Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, and Social Sciences. Stanford University is first for Education and Law but no longer leads the Psychology ranking as it gets pushed to second place by the UK’s University of Cambridge.  

Harvard University is number one for Engineering and Life Sciences, and California Institute for Technology comes first in Physical Sciences. 

The remaining top spots are taken by UK universities. University of Oxford (ranked global number one in the overall THE World University Rankings) tops the subject rankings in Medical and Health and Computer Science, while University of Cambridge is number one for Psychology for the first time since 2022, marking the only first place change across the 11 subject tables. 

The US has by far the highest number of top-10 places across the rankings with 68, followed by the UK with 29 and China with seven. Only three universities appear in all 11 subject rankings’ top 10s: Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge.  

Switzerland is the only mainland European country to rank in the top 10s: ETH Zurich is third for Computer Science and ninth in Physical Sciences. Australia has rejoined the Law ranking top 10 with University of Melbourne in eighth place, after dropping out of the top 10 last year down to 11th. And Canada has one top 10 university: University of Toronto is ninth in Medical and Health. 

Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer at Times Higher Education, said: 

“Times Higher Education’s subject rankings deploy the same trusted, gold-standard methodology as the THE World University Rankings to provide the world’s most comprehensive view of universities’ subject strength across 18 performance metrics covering teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. 

“This year’s exceptionally rich data provides further evidence of an emerging new world order – where Western dominance of higher education and research is steadily being challenged by the rapidly rising powers of East Asia. East Asian nations, led by China, are making particularly remarkable strides in geopolitically strategic areas, including Computer Science and Physical Sciences.”

Global top 10s for each of the 11 subject rankings  

If you reproduce any part of these ranking tables or charts, please attribute it to “Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2026”, and link to the full list on our website (included under each top 10). All 11 tables are also available to view from this landing page.

Arts and Humanities 

Full table for Arts and Humanities 2026

Business and Economics 

Full table for Business and Economics 2026

Computer Science 

Full table for Computer Science 2026

Education Studies 

Full table for Education Studies 2026

Engineering 

Full table for Engineering 2026

Law 

Full table for Law 2026

Life Sciences 

Full table for Life Sciences

Medical and Health 

Full table for Medical and Health 2026

Physical Sciences 

Full table for Physical Sciences 2026

Psychology 

Full table for Psychology 2026

Social Sciences 

Full table for Social Sciences 2026

Methodology 

The THE World University Rankings by Subject 2026 are derived from our World University Rankings methodology, which is recognised as the world’s most comprehensive evaluation of university performance. 

The subject tables employ the same range of 18 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings 2026, brought together with scores provided under five categories. However, the overall methodology is carefully recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields. 

Two criteria determine eligibility for the THE subject rankings: a publication threshold by discipline and an academic staff threshold by discipline. For each of the 11 subject rankings, the publication thresholds are different. The academic staff eligibility criterion also changes depending on the subject. An institution needs to have either a minimum proportion of its staff or a minimum number of staff in this discipline to be included in the subject ranking. 

View the World University Rankings by Subject 2026 methodology.

Notes to editors 

1. For more information, or to arrange an interview, please email media@timeshighereducation.com  
2. THE is the trusted global data partner for higher education. Drawing on five decades of expertise in the sector, millions of individual data points and with more unique institutions participating in our flagship university rankings than any other, we offer deeper and richer insight into university performance than anyone else. From powerful data-driven insights and strategic consultancy support to agenda-setting events, student recruitment and hiring solutions, our products and services enable everyone in higher education to make smarter, more informed decisions. For more information, visit Times Higher Education or find us on X: @timeshighered @THEworldunirank and Bluesky.