Shanghai Ranking of Subjects 2018: France reaches the podium

French institutions can be proud of going even further than the 2017 edition of the Shanghai ranking of subjects. Though no institution was present among the first three, three managed to reach the global podium in 2018. 

• The University of Montpellier is world leader in research in ecology. The university took Oxford's place; 
• the University of Paris Sud is the world second in mathematics; 
• the University of Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines is world second in atmospheric science. 

Many French institutions in the Top 50 

Overall, French institutions are well represented in the Shanghai ranking of subjects, 

• Such as in mathematics, with 7 institutions among the world's first 50: Paris Sud (2nd after Princeton), Sorbonne Université (9th), Paris Diderot (26th), ENS (28th), Paris Dauphine (30th).
• Across all subjects, the best ranked university in France is the University of Grenoble Alpes: the university is present in 35 subjects and is ranked 11 times in the Top 50 of best institutions worldwide. The university reached its best ranking in geography (10th worldwide). 
• Institutions from Toulouse made a breakthrough in economics: Toulouse School of Economics is 17th worldwide and the University of Toulouse 1 is 49th.
• Paris Sud is 10th in physics and 35th in medicine, the INSEAD is 12th in management, Paris Descartes is 28th in pharmacy and the University of Strasburg is 39th in chemistry. 

The United States, still leader

By occupying the first place for the 35th time, American institutions confirm their domination over global research. Harvard had the best result by far, being ranked 17 times as world leader. 

China took the second place: 9 Chinese institutions are on the first step of the podium. The Netherlands take the 3rd place, with 3 institutions ranked first (down from 5 in 2017). 

With Oxford and Cambridge the United Kingdom became leader in geography and mechanical engineering, respectively. 

Singapore reached the first place twice, in nanosciences and energy science & engineering. 

To be noted, the presence of Belgium in veterinary sciences thanks to the Ghent University, ranked first. 

A ranking focused exclusively on research

Long-expected and acknowledged through the world, the Shanghai ranking is mainly focused on the results of research. The ranking uses a sample of 4,000 universities in the world, selects those that published most research articles mentioned in academic publications and those that count Nobel laureates of Fields medal winners among their former students and teachers.