Natural Sciences and Mathematics at UH Ranked within Top 100 Programs in World

Natural Sciences and Mathematics at UH Ranked within Top 100 Programs in World
Rankings Place Program in Top 50 in U.S.

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) places Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Houston in the top 100 programs in the world. Within the U.S., the UH program is in the top 50.

The Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China released the 2013 rankings on August 15. Updated annually, the rankings have been published since 2003 and are based on transparent methodology.

ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank broad subject areas at world universities:

  • Number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals
  • Number of highly-cited researchers selected by Thomson Reuters
  • Number of articles published in the journals Nature and Science
  • Number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded
  • Per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution

Natural Sciences and Mathematics is one of five broad subject areas, or fields, ranked by the ARWU. More than 1,200 universities are ranked by ARWU every year; the best 500 are published on the web.

“Our research program has been growing, and it is good to see our hard work recognized in world and U.S. rankings,” said Dan E. Wells, dean of UH’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM). “Our programs are clearly exposing UH students to world-class opportunities.”

Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics Ranked in World’s Top 100

In addition to rankings of broad fields, the AWRU produces institutional rankings in five subject fields: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and Economics/Business.

Ranking indicators include alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes, Fields Medals or Turing Awards, highly-cited researchers, papers indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded, and the percentage of papers published in the top 20 percent journals for each subject.

Within NSM, Computer Science and Physics ranked in the top 75 programs in the world with Chemistry and Mathematics ranked in the top 100 programs. In the U.S., the four subjects ranked in a range from 31st to 52nd.

After listing the top 50, the AWRU groups the rankings in ranges with universities listed alphabetically. An exact place for each university’s program is not determined.

  World Ranking Range U.S. Ranking Range
Chemistry 76-100 40-44
Computer Science 51-75 31-43
Mathematics 76-100 44-52
Physics 51-75 31-37

“UH’s increased focus on research is clearly being reflected in the excellent rankings for the four NSM departments scored within the AWRU criteria,” Wells said.

- Kathy Major, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics