Top Performance in Shanghai Ranking

Environmental sciences, technical medicine and agricultural sciences: the renowned Shanghai Ranking places the University of Freiburg among the best in the world for these specialisms in particular. So the University of Freiburg has managed to maintain its international and national positions from the previous year.

The Herderbau on Tennenbacher Straße houses the University of Freiburg's Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources. Photo: Sandra Meyndt

The Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as the Shanghai Ranking, has published its listing for 2019: amongst German research universities, the University of Freiburg ranks in places five to seven. At a regional level, it has held its leading position for years now, and is the highest ranking university in Baden-Württemberg after Heidelberg. From the total of one thousand universities worldwide that are included in the survey, Freiburg lies between places 101 and 150. The ranking does not allow more detailed breakdown.

In the specialisms Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Sciences and Technical Medicine, the University of Freiburg is in the international Top 75. “These rankings prove that the work of our academics is respected worldwide,” says Rector Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer. “In the field of environmental sciences in particular, they are making Freiburg a world-leading location for research and teaching.” Schiewer referred to the special expertise bundled by Freiburg together with partner universities from the Eucor – The European Campus association in the Upper Rhine region: “We aren’t just researching into aspects of sustainability in joint projects, but also networking a variety of players in our trinational region, since the subject is extremely relevant to society, industry and politics.”

The international Academic Ranking of World Universities, which compares universities’ success in research, has been complied by Shanghai Jiao Tong University since 2003. It analyzes scientific publications in prestigious academic journals, the number of scientific citations, and high-ranking awards such as the Nobel prize. In this way it uses transparent criteria to assess research performance, above all in the natural sciences.

Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019