University of Cambridge; images courtesy by llee_wu

The international ranking of universities on the basis of subjects by Quacquarelli Symonds is here. An annual publication of university rankings, the QS World Rankings assess global institutions based on their expertise in teaching, research, nurturing employability, and internationalisation. Four sources are used to compile the rankings of subjects including global surveys of academics and employers as well as research impact.

Here are the rankings for 2018 tohelp prospective students identify the leading institutes in their chosen subjects:

Arts & Humanities
University of Oxford has been ranked as the top institution for pursuing a degree in subjects pertaining to arena of arts and humanities such as history, archaeology, art and design, literature, philosophy, linguistics etc. With an overall score of 98.6, the University of Oxford also managed to score the best h-index amongst the entire list. H-index is a scholarly metric that measures the productivity and impact of a scholar’s citations.

Harvard University and University of Cambridge tied for the second spot on the list with an overall score of 97.7. Apart from the UK, and US the University of Tokyo climbed two spots from last year rankings and secured the eighth spot on the list with an overall score of 92.8.

Engineering & Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been ranked as the top institution for subjects relating to the field of engineering and technology such as computer science, information systems, and various other branches of engineering. With an overall score of 97.7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology also achieved a full score in academic reputation.

Stanford University and University of Cambridge secured the second and third spot on the list with an overall score of 96 and 94.9 respectively. In an improvement, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology climbed one spot from last year and secured the fourth position on list with an overall score of 93.8.
 

Life Sciences & Medicine
Harvard University has been ranked as the top institution for pursuing a degree in subjects relating to medicine and life sciences such asagriculture, dentistry, pharmacy, biological sciences, pharmacy etc. With an overall score of 97.7, Harvard University also achieved full scores in academic reputation and h-index citations.

University of Oxford and University of Cambridge tied for the second spot on the list with an overall score of 94.6. Johns Hopkins University also made a climb of one spot from last year and tied at the fifth position with Stanford University with an overall score of 92.1.
 

Natural Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been ranked as the top institution for pursuing a degree in subjects relating to natural sciences such as environmental and material science, chemistry, mathematics, physics, astronomy etc. With an overall score of 98.3, Massachusetts Institute of Technology also achieved a full score in academic reputation and h-index citations.

University of Cambridge and Stanford University secured the second and third spot on the list with an overall score of 96.9 and 94.7 respectively. Climbing one spot from the last year rankings, the University of Tokyo secured the eighth position on the list with an overall score of 93.4.
 

Social Sciences & Management
Harvard University has been ranked as the top institution for pursuing a degree in subjects pertaining to the arena of management and the social sciences such as accounting, business and management studies, economics, sociology, developmental studies etc. With an overall score of 98.3, Harvard University also achieved a full score in h-index citations.

London School of Economics and University of Oxford achieved the second and third spot on the list with an overall score of 96 and 93.8 respectively. A surprising entry into the top 10 was made by the University of Melbourne as it climbed six spots from its last year rankings and secured the eighth position with an overall score of 87.7.