World Rankings
The University of Adelaide is ranked in the world's top 100 universities. We are recognised globally as a leading research university.
This is measured by the best-known world university ranking methodologies available – US News Best Global Universities Rankings, QS World University Rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and the ShanghaiRanking Academic Ranking of World Universities.
The University of Adelaide ranked 74th in the 2023 US News Best Global Universities . The 2023 rankings measured 1750 global universities over thirteen metrics including Research Reputation, Publication Output, Citations, Highly Cited Papers and International Collaboration.
The University of Adelaide ranked 82nd in the 2025 QS World University Rankings . The 2025 rankings measured 1500 global universities over five metrics – Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Faculty/Student Ratio, International Faculty and International Students.
The University of Adelaide ranked 128th in the 2025 THE World University Rankings. The 2025 rankings measured 2000+ global universities over five performance areas – Teaching, Research, Citations, Industry Income and International Outlook.
The University of Adelaide ranked 151-200 in the 2024 Academic Ranking of World Universities. The 2024 rankings measured 1000 global universities over six metrics – Alumni Awards, Staff Awards, Highly Cited Researchers, Nature & Science Papers, Publication Output and Per-Capita Academic Performance.
The University of Adelaide ranked 90th in the 2022 Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities
The 2022 rankings measured 2,052 global universities based on aggregating their most recent ranks in the Shanghai Ranking Academic Ranking of World Universities, QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings schemes.
The University of Adelaide ranked 5th in the Australian Financial Review’s Best Universities Ranking. The ranking evaluates performance under five pillars: student satisfaction, research performance, global reputation, career impact, and equity and access.
The University of Adelaide was ranked in the global Top 100 for 16 subject areas in the 2023 US News Best Global Universities Subject Area Rankings .
At subject level, US News uses various bibliometric measures, including publications and citations, as well as indicators for global and regional reputation in each specific subject.
Top 100 Subject areas for 2023:
| Subject area | Ranking |
|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence | 7 |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 25 |
| Computer Science | 41 (tied) |
| Physical Chemistry | 45 |
| Engineering | 46 (tied) |
| Water Resources | 52 (tied) |
| Plant and Animal Science | 59 |
| Chemistry | 65 |
| Nanoscience and Nanotechnology | 71 |
| Physics | 74 (tied) |
| Geosciences | 88 |
| Civil Engineering | 93 |
| Public, Environmental and Occupational Health | 95 |
| Environment/Ecology | 96 (tied) |
| Energy and Fuels | 97 (tied) |
| Chemical Engineering | 98 |
The University of Adelaide was ranked in the global Top 100 for 14 subject areas in the 2024 QS World University Rankings by Subject. At subject level, QS assesses universities over five metrics – Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Citations, H-Index and International Research Network which are weighted according to subject area.
Top 100 subject areas for 2024:
| Subject | 2024 |
| Petroleum Engineering | 7 |
| Mineral & Mining Engineering | 19 |
| Dentistry | 39 |
| Anatomy & Physiology | 48 |
| Agriculture & Forestry | 76 |
| Environmental Sciences | 90 |
| Veterinary Science | 51-70 |
| Classics & Ancient History | 51-90 |
| Philosophy | 51-100 |
| Archaeology | 51-100 |
| Nursing | 51-100 |
| Earth & Marine Sciences | 51-100 |
| Geology | 51-100 |
| Geophysics | 51-100 |
The University of Adelaide was ranked in the global Top 100 for 3 subject areas in the 2024 THE World University Rankings by Subject. At subject level, THE assesses universities over the same five performance areas as per their World University Rankings, with the weightings recalibrated for each subject area. Top 100 subject areas for 2024:
| Subject Area |
Ranking |
|---|---|
| Clinical & Health | 71 |
| Computer Science | 85 |
| Education | 97 |
The University of Adelaide was ranked in the global Top 100 for 11 subject areas in the 2023 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. At subject level Shanghai Ranking assesses universities over five metrics - Q1 Journal Impact Factor Publications, Category Normalized Citation Impact (CNCI), International Collaboration, Papers Published in Top Journals and Staff Awards.
Top 100 subject areas for 2023:
| Subject | Rank |
| Mining & Mineral Engineering | 15 |
| Dentistry & Oral Sciences | 27 |
| Water Resources | 50 |
| Automation & Control | 51-75 |
| Computer Science & Engineering | 51-75 |
| Veterinary Sciences | 51-75 |
| Civil Engineering | 76-100 |
| Chemical Engineering | 76-100 |
| Energy Science & Engineering | 76-100 |
| Environmental Science & Engineering | 76-100 |
| Nursing | 76-100 |