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RankingQS Rankings by Subject: Outstanding Performance by Ruperto Carola in Multiple Disciplines

3 June 2022

Subject area Life Sciences & Medicine takes first place in Germany, with Medicine also ranking first in individual ranking

In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022, Heidelberg University is prominently represented in the subject area Life Sciences & Medicine. Placed 35th internationally, it comes out on top in Germany ahead of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU, 38th internationally) and Munich’s Technical University (TUM, 62nd internationally). Besides the rankings for cross-disciplinary areas, the QS Rankings by Subject have a second part covering single disciplines. In the individual ranking for Medicine – moving from 30th to 29th place internationally – Heidelberg takes top position Germany-wide as it did last year, ahead of LMU (44th) and TUM (59th). In the subject area Arts & Humanities, Classics & Ancient History are ranked fifth internationally and second in Germany.

In the rankings for the single disciplines, Heidelberg University is very well positioned with other subjects. Besides Classics & Ancient History in the subject area Arts & Humanities, Theology (ranked 22nd internationally), Archaeology, having moved up twelve places to rank 26th, and History (49th) are among the Top 50 internationally in their respective discipline. This means that in Germany Theology is placed third, while Archaeology and History are placed fourth. Taken as a whole, the Arts & Humanities, in position 63 internationally, are in 4th place Germany-wide. Law in Heidelberg – located in the subject area Social Sciences & Management – takes 62nd place internationally and third place at the national level. The Sports-Related Subjects are in top place in Germany and ranked between 51 and 100 worldwide.

In the subject area Life Sciences & Medicine, not only Medicine achieved an international Top 50 placing. Having improved by ten places over last year, Biology is now ranked 29th, and second in Germany. In the cross-disciplinary subject area ranking, Natural Sciences take 52nd place internationally and fourth place in Germany. In the individual subject rankings, Physics & Astronomy together occupy position 29 worldwide and come third at the national level. Both Geology and Geophysics take top place in Germany. Compared internationally, they are both located in the 51-to-100 ranking group. Geography is also positioned here, and is placed third at the national level.

The assessments of subject areas and rankings by subject – published in March 2022 – are primarily based on data from academic and employer surveys carried out for the QS World University Rankings and evaluated in terms of specific subjects. Citation analyses are likewise taken into account. The results are weighted differently depending on the disciplines.