ETH Zurich overtakes Cambridge

ETH Zurich has risen one place compared to last year’s QS World University Rankings. It has now made it into the top six of the world’s top universities, its best ever performance in the ranking. ETH has progressively improved its standing over the last few years.

ETH Zurich is also the second-best European university, after the University of Oxford. It has this year therefore overtaken the University of Cambridge. ETH has already been regarded as the best university in continental Europe for some time. 

“Such success is only possible thanks to the excellent skills and high level of commitment of the ETH staff,” commented ETH President Joël Mesot in a press release, adding that ETH can be very proud of this result. It must not rest on its laurels though, as success in the future cannot be taken for granted.

The number one spot in the rankings has once again been taken by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is followed by Stanford University, Harvard University and the University of Oxford. In addition to ETH Zurich, two other Swiss universities have made the top 100: the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) has been placed 18th and the University of Zurich is at 76 in the ranking. Both have consequently improved their standing since last year.

The QS ranking is based on the results of surveys among scientists and employers regarding the quality of universities. Factors such as academic publications, the staff-student ratio and the universities’ international outlook are also taken into account.