Number one in continental Europe

For several years, ETH Zurich has been among the top ten universities in the world according to the annual QS ranking, and it remains so this year. Coming in ninth place, it has dropped by one place since last year but is still by far the highest-ranking university in continental Europe. “I am very proud that we are able to hold our position among the world’s leading universities year by year despite the growing competition,” says ETH President Joël Mesot. “It confirms once more that ETH can count on outstanding and dedicated employees, and that it has benefited from good conditions until now. However, I cannot hide the fact that I am worried about the current situation with the war in Ukraine, Switzerland’s non-association to Horizon Europe and the financial consequences of the pandemic.”

Swiss universities rank high

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claims the top spot in the ranking, as it has done for more than ten years. Second place is held by University of Cambridge, followed by Stanford University in third place. Two other Swiss universities, namely EPFL (in 16th place) and the University of Zurich (in 83rd place), join ETH in the top 100 out of more than 1,400 ranked institutions. A look at past QS rankings shows that ETH Zurich’s results are very consistent. “ETH’s score has changed only marginally from year to year. However, the fierce competition means that very small changes in the overall score can lead to fluctuations in the ranking,” says Paul Cross from ETH’s Institutional Research.

Top scores in academic reputation and citations

As in past years, ETH Zurich has achieved top scores mainly in two areas: 98.6 out of 100 points for academic reputation and 99.2 points for citations per faculty. These two indicators carry considerable weight, accounting for 40 and 20 percent of the overall score, respectively. ETH Zurich has also achieved more than 90 out of 100 points for other indicators such as employer reputation, international students and international faculty. Only in the faculty to student ratio, where it has scored 74.2 points, is ETH Zurich behind its direct competitors in the top ten. “This is not surprising. Switzerland’s education system is unique, as anyone with a baccalaureate has access to our universities. Most other leading universities have more restrictive admission requirements and therefore a lower number of students, resulting in a better faculty to student ratio,” says Paul Cross from Institutional Research at ETH.