Graduates take photos in front of a gate of Tsinghua University in Beijing. (Photo: IC)
Universities in China have taken the top spot in 11 subjects in recent global university rankings. The 2019 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, released by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy on Wednesday, ranks universities according to their performance in 54 subjects across five fields of study: natural science, engineering, life science, medical science, and social science.
Ten Chinese mainland universities took the top spot in engineering subjects, while a university in Hong Kong topped one of the listed social science subjects.
Here are the 11 subjects where Chinese universities took the top spot in the rankings:
- Tsinghua University: telecommunication engineering
- Harbin Institute of Technology: instrument science and technology
- Tongji University: civil engineering
- Jiangnan University: food science and technology
- Beihang University: aerospace engineering
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University: marine/ocean engineering
- Beijing Jiaotong University: transportation science and technology
- Wuhan University: remote sensing
- Central South University: mining and mineral engineering
- University of Science and Technology Beijing: metallurgical engineering
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: hospitality and tourism management
Universities in the United States took most of the top positions in the rankings, taking the lead across 35 subjects. Harvard University was the best performer, taking top spot for 14 subjects.
Zhejiang University was one of the top performers from the Chinese mainland, appearing in the rankings for 46 subjects. Tsinghua University was among the top 10 universities across 11 subjects, and Peking University was ranked on the top 100 lists for 32 subjects.
The Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, an independent higher education research organization, started to publish the Academic Ranking of World Universities by subject in 2009. It sits alongside the QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings as the world's most influential university rankings.