ETH Zurich continues to be the best university on the European mainland. This is shown by the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), better known as the "Shanghai ranking", which each year determines the top 500 universities in the world. The world leaders remain unchanged: the first three places are occupied by the US universities of Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley. The University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom is in fourth place and thus remains the best university in Europe.

The top spot for chemistry, physics and computer science

The key subject at the ETH Zurich, according to the "Shanghai Ranking", is chemistry, where it takes the sixth place world-wide. In the European comparison it lies behind the University of Cambridge (world-wide rank 3) in second place. The top subjects of ETH Zurich also include physics: while it occupies 17th place in the world rankings, it takes third place in Europe. The two British universities of Cambridge (world-wide rank 8) and Imperial College (14) occupy the first and second places. Close behind ETH Zurich lie the University of Paris (19) and the University of Munich (25). In the field of computer science too, ETH Zurich is among Europe’s elite: while it is in 23rd place in the world-wide comparison, it comes second in Europe and is only eclipsed by the University of Oxford in the UK.

In addition to ETH Zurich, two other Swiss universities are - as last year - among the best 100 in the world: The University of Zurich slipped from 53rd place to 54th, while the University of Basel moved up from 87th to 85th in the rankings. In the European comparison, the University of Zurich was in 13th place (previous year 12th) and the University of Basel is now in 27th place (previous year 28th).

Publications and Nobel Prizes as indicators

In making its evaluation, the University of Jiao Tong in Shanghai compares universities on the basis of six criteria. In the sphere of education these are, for example, the number of honours and, in particular, Nobel Prizes, which the alumni of a university obtain. The number of times a researcher is quoted is likewise included in the evaluation. The research achievement is evaluated on the basis of the number of articles published in "Nature & Science" and "Web of Science". The size of a university, which relates to the academic achievement, is likewise relevant.