ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2026

ShanghaiRanking Consultancy has released the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2026, one of the world’s most comprehensive and objective assessments of universities by academic discipline. This year’s ranking covers 57 subjects across Natural Sciences, Engineering, Life Sciences, Medical Sciences, and Social Sciences. In total, around 2,000 universities are featured in the 2026 edition of GRAS, representing 96 countries and regions.

The universities ranked first in each subject are presented in the table below. Universities from the United States continue to dominate, securing top positions in 27 subjects, while Chinese universities follow closely with 22 subjects ranked No. 1 worldwide. Harvard University stands out as the best-performing institution, achieving 11 top one positions: 6 in Social Sciences, 2 in Life Sciences, 2 in Medical Sciences, and 1 in Engineering. China's Tsinghua University leads in 7 subjects, while MIT tops 5. Meanwhile, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Indiana University Bloomington, and University of Chicago each secure 2 No. 1 positions.

By counting the total number of appearances across all subjects in the league table, universities from the United States appear 4,119 times, followed by Chinese universities with 4,077 appearances, and universities from the United Kingdom with 1,536 appearances. In terms of the number of subjects presented in GRAS 2026, Zhejiang University leads with 57 subjects, followed by National University of Singapore, appearing in 53 subjects. 7 institutions follow closely with 52 subjects each: Tsinghua University, University of Oxford, Peking University, University of Toronto, Sun Yat-sen University, The University of Queensland, and The University of Melbourne.

GRAS 2026 uses a range of objective academic indicators, covering 5 evaluation categories. World-Class Faculty category includes 4 indicators: International Academic Award Laureates (Laureate), Highly Cited Researchers (HCR), Chief Editors of International Academic Journals (Editor), and International Academic Organization Leadership (Leadership). World-Class Output category includes 2 indicators: Top Journal Papers (TJ) and International Academic Awards (Award). High-Quality Research category uses Q1 Journal Papers (Q1), Research Impact category uses Category Normalized Citation Impact (CNCI) and International Collaboration category uses International Collaborated Papers (IC).

In GRAS 2026, the lists of top journals, international academic awards, and key academic organizations are determined through Academic Excellence Survey (AES) conducted by ShanghaiRanking. Until June 2026, 1,560 professors from top 100 universities in 21 countries/regions have participated in the survey. The results reveal 42 top awards, 36 key international organizations, 182 top journals and 26 top conferences. ShanghaiRanking wants to express its great gratitude to the scholars who have completed the survey for their significant contribution to building the criteria of academic excellence.

The detailed methodology and full results of ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2026 can be viewed on our official website www.shanghairanking.com.

ShanghaiRanking Consultancy: ShanghaiRanking Consultancy is a higher education data and analytics company dedicated to measuring and enhancing the global competitiveness of universities. Through the development of comprehensive databases, performance indicators, benchmarking tools, and research intelligence products, the company delivers data-driven solutions for universities, governments, and higher education organizations worldwide. ShanghaiRanking is the publisher of Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS).

Website: https://www.shanghairanking.com/

Contact us at pr@shanghairanking.com for queries about the ranking details.