As vocational degrees go, library & information management is hardly one of the most well-known. Designed to prepare students for a career as a library & information professional, the typical undergraduate program covers such areas as information organization, information governance & ethics, and database design & management.

Now, for the first time ever the QS World University Rankings by Subject have been expanded to include library & information management as one of two new subjects, taking the total number included this year to 48.

50 universities from 17 different countries feature in this first-ever ranking of library & information management teaching, with two institutions sharing the top spot this year. The University of Sheffield in the UK has the honor of sharing first place with the US’s University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

The rest of the top 10, which is almost entirely made up of other universities from the UK and US, can be seen below, along with a regional breakdown.

Top universities for library & information management in the United States and Canada

With eight of the top 10 universities hailing from North America, residents of the US and Canada won’t be short of options if they’re interested in studying library & information management. In total, 22 of the 50 universities ranked this year are from these two countries.

McGill University and the University of Toronto both narrowly miss out on a place in the top 10, ranking joint 11^th. The other two Canadian universities to be ranked are Western University (21^st) and Université de Montréal (joint 47^th).

Notable American universities outside of the top 10 include Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, Syracuse University and University of Texas at Austin which are ranked 13^th, 14^th and 15^th respectively.

Top universities for library & information management in Europe

Over half of the European universities included in this year’s ranking are based in the UK (seven of 13), with UCL (University College London) the next best-performing outside of the two universities in the top 10. The London-based institution is ranked 32^nd in the world.

No other European country features more than once in the ranking. Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain are the six countries to be represented, with Spain’s Universidad Carlos III de Madrid the best-performing university from these countries with a ranking of 22^nd. The University of Amsterdam is the only other one to feature in the top 30.

Top universities for library & information management in Australia & New Zealand

RMIT University is one of three universities from Australia and New Zealand to be ranked for library & information management this year, placing an extremely respectable 20^th. The other Australian university to be included is Monash University, which is ranked joint 43^rd (tied with China’s Fudan University and the universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde in the UK).

The sole New Zealand university to be featured is the Victoria University of Wellington, which is ranked 40^th.

Top universities for library & information management in Asia

China and Taiwan both boast three universities in this inaugural ranking, although only one of these – National Taiwan University (NTU) – is in the top half of the ranking. Peking University is the highest-placed Chinese university in 30^th place.

Japan and South Korea are the next most-represented countries with two universities apiece making the cut. Both the University of Tokyo and the University of Tsukuba are placed higher than their South Korean counterparts. The Japanese institutions are ranked 23^rd and 37^th respectively, while South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University and Seoul National University (SNU) are outside the top 40.

The final two countries to be featured in this year’s ranking are Malaysia and Singapore. Universiti Malaya (UM) is ranked 24^th in the world, while Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a very respectable 18^th. This makes NTU the highest-ranked institution to come from outside the US, the UK or Canada.

Along with 47 other academic disciplines, the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018 reveals the best-performing universities around the world for business & management studies.

Featuring 300 universities from 45 different countries, the subject ranking is topped by Harvard University for a third year in a row, with three other American universities also in the top 10.

However, Harvard’s position may seem confusing, when you try to compare the business & management studies subject ranking with the QS Business Masters Rankings, released at the end of last year. These brand-new rankings of postgraduate business programs in finance, management and business analytics don’t feature Harvard at all. So, what’s going on?

Why these two rankings are different

Although, on the surface, these two rankings both appear to be very similar, with a focus on business and/or management, they actually measure two very different things. The simplest way to understand this is look at the respective focus of each ranking.

The business & management studies subject ranking assesses universities at a subject level. This incorporates multiple degree programs and multiple levels of study, from undergraduate to PhD.

On the other hand, the business masters rankings are looking at specific master’s programs within three specific specializations: finance, management and business analytics. This is why, if you look at the business masters rankings, you’ll see that specific degree programs are referenced. Here, for example, HEC Paris is ranked number one in the world for its MSc in Strategic Management.

To put it simply, the subject rankings are great at giving you an overall idea of the level of quality teaching at a university within a particular subject, while the business masters rankings are designed to help prospective postgraduates choose a degree.

Differences in methodology

As these two rankings focus on different things, they are also constructed using slightly different methodologies. The subject ranking uses four metrics: academic reputation and employer reputation (both of which are based on the results of global surveys), as well as the number of research citations per paper that university has received in that field, and “H-index” – a measure of both the productivity and impact of the published work of a university’s scholar.

By contrast, the business masters rankings focus on five metrics. While a couple of these line up with things measured by the subject rankings (employability/employer reputation and thought leadership/research impact), the other three ensure this ranking produces very distinctive results: alumni outcomes, value for money and class/faculty diversity.

These differences in methodology tie into the different intended purpose of each ranking, as things like class diversity and whether a particular degree is likely to lead to higher earnings are more suited for the business masters rankings and their program-specific focus.

For more information about the subject ranking methodology, click here, or click here for the business masters methodology.

So which ranking should you use?

The first thing to make clear is that, if trying to decide on where to study, university rankings shouldn’t be the only thing you look at. Although both of these rankings provide very useful information about universities and business schools around the world, they can’t tell you everything.

That being said, the business & management studies subject ranking is likely to be the most useful for you. Only consult the business masters rankings if:

1. You’re looking for somewhere to study a postgraduate degree
2. You already know you want to specialize in either finance, management or business analytics

The QS Business Masters Rankings can be found here, while the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018 are here.

This year, the QS World University Rankings by Subject have been expanded to include two new subjects, one of which is classics & ancient history.

50 universities from around the world feature in this first-ever classics ranking, with 16 different countries represented. Sapienza - Università di Roma has the honor of being the best university in the world for classics, and the rest of the top 10 can be seen below along with a regional breakdown.

Top universities for classics & ancient history in the United States and Canada

Although only two American universities manage to break into the top 10, there are nine more included in this year’s ranking. Cornell University are just one place below Princeton in 11^th, with the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) (15^th), Yale University (17^th) and University of Chicago (20^th) all in the top 20.

Canada has just one institution in this year’s ranking, the University of Toronto, which is ranked 33^rd.

Top universities for classics & ancient history in Europe

As you can see above, most of the top universities for classics & ancient history hail from Europe and this is replicated further down the table. 36 of the 50 universities included this year are European, with the majority coming from Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom (eight institutions per country).

Outside of the top 10, the next best universities in the UK are the University of St Andrews (ranked 14^th), UCL (University College London) (18^th) and King’s College London (KCL) (21^st).

In Italy, the next top universities after Sapienza are Università di Pisa (12^th) and Universitá degli Studi di Roma - Tor Vergata (13th).

Half of Germany’s featured universities are in the top 20, with three in the top 10 above. The next best-ranked universities are Universität Freiburg in 19^th, and Freie Universität Berlin in 22^nd.

Other top European universities are Greece’s Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 16^th and Belgium’s Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 24^th. Outside the top half of the ranking, Austria, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Denmark and Spain are all represented.

Top universities for classics & ancient history elsewhere in the world

Only two universities in this year’s classics & ancient history ranking are from outside Europe, the US and Canada. The first of these is Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) which is ranked 39^th and is the sole Latin American university included.

The final institution is the only Asian university in this year’s ranking. Japan’s Kyushu University is ranked joint 46^th alongside Spain’s Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM).

Discover the top law schools in 2019 here.

Featuring 48 subjects in total, the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018 are one of the most comprehensive assessments of the best universities in the world. One of those 48 subjects is law, with 300 institutions from 42 different countries featured this year.

Dominating this year’s rankings, as they have done in previous years, are universities from two particular countries: the UK and the US. Of the 300 institutions, 95 come from just those two countries. Here’s a closer look at the top law schools from both of these countries.

United States

Harvard University

Ivy League institution Harvard University makes it six years as the top law school in the world, with a nearly perfect score across the different indicators used to compile the rankings (more information available here).

Harvard’s law school offers three distinct degree programs: the J.D. Program (Juris Doctor), the LL.M. Program (Master of Laws) and the S.J.D. Program (Doctor of Juridical Science). Students in their first year of law school will study a curriculum which provides fantastic preparation for working in law in the 21^st century, covering such areas as civil procedure, criminal law, property law and torts.

Yale University

A non-mover at fourth place in this year’s ranking of top law schools, Yale University scores a perfect mark for the number of research citations per paper. This strong focus on research makes Yale a fantastic choice of study destination for particularly diligent and bookish students.

Admissions here are extremely competitive, with less than one in 10 applicants offered a place to study. Each class in Yale’s three-year J.D. Program enrolls approximately 200 students.

On a lighter note, Yale Law School is well-known for being where Bill and Hillary Clinton first met and started dating, while they were students in 1971.

Stanford University

The third of five American universities in the top five, Stanford University is another non-mover this year. If the sunny environs of California sound more appealing than Massachusetts or Connecticut, you couldn’t do better than apply to study at Stanford’s law school. 180 students are currently enrolled on the school’s J.D. Program.

As well as the school’s J.D. Program, four advanced legal degrees are offered by Stanford: a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Studies in Law (M.S.L.), a Master of the Science of Law (J.S.M.), and a Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.).

New York University (NYU)

Another non-mover, New York University (NYU) is ranked sixth again this year. The oldest law school in New York City, NYU has an enviable reputation and a fantastic employability record for its graduates. According to the university, 93.7 percent of the class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, J.D.-required employment nine months after graduation.

The law school receives over 7,000 applicants every year for just 450 places, making it one of the most competitive in both the US and the world. If you’re fortunate enough to be admitted, you’ll be following in the footsteps of such luminaries as John F. Kennedy Jr, journalist Glenn Greenwald and former New York City mayor Ed Koch.

University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

Up one place to seventh this year, the University of California, Berkeley is the second Californian institution to be featured in this list of top law schools. UC Berkeley School of Law will celebrate its 125^th year in 2019, having originally been founded as the Department of Jurisprudence.

With approximately 850 J.D. students and 245 studying at a postgraduate level, the school is highly selective in its admissions process, something it has in common with the other law schools on this list. The school places particular importance at undergraduate level on GPA scores, which means Berkeley has the 9th highest 75th percentile GPA in the US.

Columbia University

Columbia University drops one place in this year’s law ranking but retains its place in the top 10 overall. Fans of the hit musical Hamilton might be particularly keen to study here, as doing so will allow them to follow in the footsteps of that show’s protagonist, as well as John Jay, the co-author of the Federalist Papers.

Columbia Law School has also produced two US presidents (Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and more members of the Forbes 400 than any other law school in the world. Studying here doesn’t come cheap though, with tuition costing over $65,000 dollars in 2017/18.

Also in the top 20: University of Chicago (11^th), Georgetown University (17^th)

United Kingdom

University of Cambridge

Shifting focus to the other side of the Atlantic, the University of Cambridge has over-taken rival institution Oxford to be the top law school in the UK this year. Six different law degrees are available at Cambridge, including a BA at undergraduate level and a LL.M. and Masters of Corporate Law (MCL) at postgraduate level.

Undergraduate students have the option of spending some of their studies abroad, as part of the Erasmus+ scheme. Four different law faculties across Europe have an exchange partnership with Cambridge. They are: Poitiers (France), Utrecht (The Netherlands), Regensburg (Germany), and the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). Choosing to do this adds an extra year to the length of your undergraduate degree (four years instead of three).

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford may have slipped behind Cambridge into third place this year but it can at least boast that it continues to out-score its rival for its academic reputation. Studying law here means following in the footsteps of the likes of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as 22 different law lords.

Oxford offers the largest doctoral law program in the entire English-speaking world, so it’s no surprise to see it so highly ranked. Its graduate law program is also particularly unique, as it incorporates tutorials as well as seminars as lectures. According to the university, this is something no other institution in the world does.

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

While its name might suggest LSE’s primary specialties are economics and political science, the university actually features in 17 different subject rankings this year including this one of top law schools. Although LSE has fallen two places this year, it remains in the top 10 overall and continues to be the best university in London for law.

At undergraduate level, as part of the university’s LLB Bachelor of Laws program, you can choose to participate in a double degree program if you so choose. After two years of studying in London, this program enables you to transfer to Columbia Law School in the US to continue your studies for two more years.

Also in the top 20: UCL (University College London) (=12^th), King’s College London (KCL) (20^th)

Also worth mentioning

Although these two countries dominate the rankings, there are universities from the other 40 countries which deserve a special mention. Australia has four institutions in the top 20 this year, including the University of Melbourne which is up three places to eighth. The Australian National University has also moved up the rankings this year (up four places to joint 12^th), while the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have both dropped slightly to 14^th and 16^th respectively.

Three other countries feature in the top 20. The National University of Singapore (NUS) is one of three institutions from that country to be ranked this year but is the only one in the top 100 (it’s ranked 15^th).

Both Canada’s University of Toronto and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have dropped one place this year, to 18^th and 19^th respectively.

Discover the top universities for physics in 2019 here.

If you’re looking to study physics & astronomy at a highly ranked university, the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018 is a good place to start your search. Along with 47 other subjects, this year’s ranking features a physics & astronomy ranking which includes 500 institutions around the world, based on a methodology which assesses academic and employer reputations, research impact and more.

In this article, we’ll focus on the universities in the top 50 which have most improved their positions from last year’s physics ranking. You can view the full physics ranking table here.

Cornell University

Cornell University is up four places this year to rank joint 19^th with Tsinghua University, having improved its score for employer reputation since last year. Cornell’s physics department is known for its versatile programs and Nobel Prize-winning research, with the presence of a particle accelerator contributing to its notoriety in particle and accelerator physics.

Also, the university’s Department of Astrology offers a flexible bachelor’s degree which can be customized to each student’s needs. Undergraduates can also get involved with research opportunities.

Columbia University

Up from joint 19^th to place 14^th among the world’s top universities for physics and astronomy, Columbia University has improved its scores for both academic and employer reputation since last year.

Astronomy has been taught at Columbia since 1757 and has formed an important part of its curriculum, with research highlights such as the first applications of photography to stellar astrometry and spectroscopy in 1863. Since 1901, 27 people associated with Columbia have won the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University has entered the top 20 in this year’s physics ranking, climbing from 24^th to joint 19^th with Cornell. Tsinghua’s physics department was founded in 1926 and has since earned a reputation as one of the most prestigious physics departments in China. At undergraduate level, you can choose between physics and applied physics, with both programs aiming to provide you with a strong understanding of the fundamental theories and research methods in physics and prepare you for a wide range of careers.

Sapienza - Università di Roma

Italy’s Sapienza University of Rome, often called Sapienza, is up from joint 44^th to 39^th in this year’s physics ranking, with a much-improved score for employer reputation. Although its bachelor’s in physics degree is only available in Italian, the university offers English-taught master’s degrees such as an MSc in atmospheric science and technology, which focuses on atmospheric science from a physical and engineering perspective. Other master’s degrees available include particle and astroparticle physics, and space and astronautical engineering.

Carnegie Mellon University

In the US, Carnegie Mellon University is ranked joint 45^th in the world for physics and astronomy this year, climbing at least six places from its 51-100 position in last year’s ranking. Carnegie Mellon’s physics department fosters a culture which recognizes that graduate students are the key to the department’s success and strives to provide them with a supportive community.

University of Edinburgh

Ranked joint 45^th for physics this year alongside Carnegie Mellon, the University of Edinburgh also climbed from 51-100, improving in three of the four subject ranking indicators. Institutes and research groups based within the university’s School of Physics and Astronomy include the Institute for Astronomy (IfA), one of the UK’s major centers of astronomical research, with strengths in survey astronomy, cosmology, active galaxies and the formation of stars and planets.

Australian National University (ANU)

Also climbing from the 51-100 range in this year’s physics ranking, Australian National University (ANU) is up at least seven spots to now rank 44^th in the world for physics and astronomy, with improved scores for academic and employer reputation.  

ANU’s Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Australia (RSAA) is home to the Siding Spring Observatory (SSO), the largest optical observatory in Australia, and students also benefit from the problem-solving focus of the university’s physics degrees, taught by world-leading academics.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is next in our look at the most improved top universities for physics in 2018, having climbed nine places to rank 38^th. NTU offers BSc degrees in physics and applied physics, aiming to provide a firm foundation in the key theories of physics along with experimental training. You can also choose to specialize in your degree in either nanotechnology, optical technology, semiconductor technology or biophysics.

The University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is up 10 places this year, meaning it’s now placed 30^th in the world for physics and astronomy. The university’s School of Physics and Astronomy is one of the largest in the UK, with students benefiting from facilities such as the Jodrell Bank Observatory.

The school has origins dating back to 1874 and has hosted many award-winning scientists over the years, including Professor Brian Cox OBE and Ernest Rutherford, who earned the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for splitting the atom.  

UCL (University College London)

One institution among the world’s top universities for physics in 2018 deserves particular credit for its improvement this year, and that’s UCL (University College London), which has climbed impressive 11 places to now rank 33^rd.

Located in the historic Bloomsbury area in London, UCL’s Physics and Astronomy Department has an internationally renowned reputation for ground-breaking research and high-quality teaching – for example, it was one of the first universities in the world to investigate space research.

UCL’s excellent teaching facilities include the Astronomical Observatory in Mill Hill, one of the best-equipped astronomical facilities for student training and research in the country.

Other highly improved top physics schools

Looking outside the top 50, other universities which have greatly improved their ranking positions this year include the US’ Stony Brook University, State University of New York, up from 151-200 to 51-100, Sweden’s Lund University and Brazil’s Universidade de São Paulo (USP), both up from 101-150 to 51-100, and Ireland’s Trinity College Dublin, up from 201-250 to 101-150.

This year’s 10 top universities for physics & astronomy

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