ETH Zurich remains best university outside the UK and North America
Students at the ETH Zurich Science City Campus
Eth Zürich / Gian Marco Castelberg
Switzerland is the only nation outside Britain and North America to make it into the top 20 of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2020. The federal technology institute ETH Zurich came joint 13th, down two places from last year.
This year’s listExternal link is touted as the biggest yet, including 1,396 universities from 92 countries, up from 1,258 universities/86 countries last year.
It is based on 13 performance metricsExternal link, grouped into five areas (teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income/knowledge transfer). Two of these indicators are based on the THE Academic Reputation Survey directed at scholars.
Top dogs
Oxford is top overall for the fourth year running; the California Institute of Technology rises three places to 2nd; Cambridge drops one place to 3rd; Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) round out the top five.
Among the other Swiss universities, the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) fell three places to joint 38th and the University of Zurich remained in 90th. The University of Basel improved from 103rd to joint 94th and the University of Bern slipped from joint 110th to joint 113th, while the University of Geneva went from joint 135th to joint 144th. The University of Lausanne just managed to stay in the top 200, dropping from joint 176th to joint 198th.
The ETH Zurich is regularly placed highly in international rankings – in June it came sixth in the QS rankings, which, along with the TES and Shanghai rankings is considered one of the most cited indicators of university quality.
However, the past year has not been easy for the institution, which moved to dismiss a professor accused of bullying and faced allegations – of which it has been cleared by two external investigations – concerning governance funding and gender bias.
World Academic Summit
The summit brings together in Zurich 400 leaders from universities and industry to discuss higher education issues. The topic of the meeting, which takes place from September 10-12, is how talent thrives. This includes exploring lifelong learning, industry partnerships, meeting the skills gap and talent recruitment and retention.
More
More
A visual summary of university rankings
This content was published on
Choosing the right university is an important decision. Find the right fit with swissinfo.ch’s university rankings and fees visualisations.
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
An atomic ‘tick-tock’ with Swiss technology heads to space to test the Einstein effect
This content was published on
On Monday, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the ACES set of atomic clocks to measure the effect of gravity on the passage of time.
Swiss Guard swearing-in ceremony postponed following Pope Francis death
This content was published on
The swearing-in ceremony of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which usually takes place on May 6 each year, has been postponed to a date to be announced next autumn.
Swiss medical device maker Ypsomed to sell diabetes business
This content was published on
Bern-based injection device manufacturer Ypsomed announced on Tuesday that it was selling its diabetes-related activities.
Award-winning Swiss author and scholar Peter von Matt dies aged 87
This content was published on
The Alemannic writer and former professor of German literature Peter von Matt died on Monday in Zurich at the age of 87, following a long illness.
Swiss foreign minister spoke with Iranian counterpart about US dialogue
This content was published on
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has spoken with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi about the current dialogue between the US and Iran.
Swiss foreign minister appeals for cohesion and dialogue at Expo in Japan
This content was published on
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis called for cohesion and dialogue at the opening of the Swiss National Day at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, on Tuesday.
Switzerland postpones launch of emergency number for domestic violence victims
This content was published on
The launch of the “142” emergency number, which aims to help victims of domestic violence in Switzerland, has been postponed to May 2026.
ETH Zurich moves into the top six universities worldwide
This content was published on
The Zurich-based Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) has moved up one place in the latest QS university rankings.
Swiss university system climbs to third in global study
This content was published on
Thanks largely to the strong performance of ETH Zurich, the Swiss university system has entered the top three globally in the latest QS rankings.
This content was published on
Switzerland’s top-ranked ETH Zurich has been cleared of accusations concerning governance, funding and gender bias by two external investigations.
ETH Zurich again makes top 20 universities worldwide
This content was published on
Five Swiss universities are among the best 100 higher educational institutions worldwide, according to the latest academic ranking.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.