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ETH Zurich moves into the top six universities worldwide

man testing drones in a lab environment
The ETH Zurich has also been at the forefront of developing drones (archive picture from 2016). © Keystone/Gaetan Bally

The Zurich-based Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) has moved up one place in the latest QS university rankings to make it into the world’s top six higher education locations.

For the first time, the ETH Zurich overtook Cambridge University in England in the ranking by British company Quacquarelli Symonds, an educational marketing group.

The top five spots are held by four universities in the United States – MIT coming out first – and the prestigious university of Oxford in England.

“We are very pleased about this great ranking. It provides yet more proof that ETH Zurich is on the right track in teaching, research and technology transfer and it shows that we can hold our own against other top universities in an increasingly competitive environment,” ETH Zurich President, Joël Mesot said in a press releaseExternal link on Wednesday. 

+ See here the results of the same survey from 2018

ETH Zurich has been the top university on the European continent in the QS ranking since 2010.

The second top university in Switzerland, the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is in 18th position together with Columbia University in the US, according to the surveyExternal link.

The ranking is based on the results of surveys among scientists and employers about the quality of universities, including academic publication rates, staff-student ratio and the universities’ international outlook.

QS first published their ranking in 2004. Along with the Times Higher Education and Shanghai rankings, it is one of the most cited indicators of university quality.

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