QS - Methodologies
The QS - Quacquarelli Symonds agency, the world's largest provider of services and data analysis of the higher education system, has published annually since 2004 the QS World University Ranking, a general ranking of universities seen as a whole.
Since 2010, this has been joined by a series of other thematic rankings such as the QS World University Ranking by Subject in which the comparison between universities is carried out on the basis of the scientific discipline, the QS Graduate Employability Rankings which assesses the ease of entry into the labor market of students trained by a university, the QS Best Student Cities and many more.
Starting from 2022, the QS WUR Sustainability ranking has been published with a specialized focus on the sustainability policies undertaken by universities.
The latest addition to the QS family, in September 2023, is the QS Europe University Rankings, with a dedicated range of indicators and a detail on European Community Universities.
An interview with the founder of the agency is available with the story of the twenty-year evolution of this activity and the prospects for the future of the agency:
The complete portfolio can be visited on the TopUniversities.com website – the homepage of all QS rankings, a site that has more than 150 million visits a year.
The following is an overview of the methodologies of:
QS World University Ranking by subject
QS World University Ranking: Sustainability
QS WUR - WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKING
>>> Performance
The QS World University Ranking, starting with the edition published in June 2023, evaluates universities through the following indicators
45% of the overall result is linked to two reputation indicators; to obtain this information, QS independently conducts two reputational surveys per year: one for academics (professors and staff of universities around the world) and one for companies (personnel managers, executives or owners of public or private companies).
Every year the number of respondents increases: in the 2025 survey, more than 200 thousand academics and more than 100 thousand employers were intercepted.
Each lecturer or company called to participate in the survey can nominate up to 30 international and 10 national universities that they consider best in the field of teaching and / or research with respect to their subject area.
This is the only ranking in which institutions can act proactively, inviting the academic community and corporate and institutional partners to participate in surveys.
The bibliometric indicators (Citations and IRNs) are obtained from Scopus-Elsevier according to the methods illustrated on the page: Processing of citations and papers
For further information:
- official page of the QS methodology (On the same site you can also see the profile of the University of Padua)
- Elsevier article: Understanding Scopus and SciVal and the QS World University Rank
QS WUR - WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKING - BY SUBJECT
>>> Performance
The QS agency also draws up the World University Ranking by Subject, which focuses on the different scientific fields present in each university.
It is organized into 5 disciplinary macro-areas:
* Arts & Humanities
* Engineering & Technology
* Life Science & Medicine
* Natural Science
* Social Science & Management
The QS World University Ranking by Subject examines over 5000 universities in the world on 5 macro-areas and 55 specific subjects (subjects):
The indicators considered by the methodology coincide only partially with those of the World University Ranking (WUR).
The indicators and weights for the subject areas are:
| Subject area | Indicators | ||||
| Academic Reputation | Employer Reputation | Citation for Paper | H-index | IRN | |
| Arts & Humanities | 60% | 20% | 7,5% | 7,5% | 5% |
| Engineering & Technology | 40% | 30% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| Life Science & Medicine | 40% | 10% | 20% | 20% | 10% |
| Natural Science | 40% | 20% | 15% | 15% | 10% |
| Social Science & Management | 50% | 30% | 7,5% | 7,5% | 5% |
Clicking on the individual indicators opens the official pages of the QS support site
More information or insights can be obtained directly from the official QS page
QS WUR - SUSTAINABILITY RANKINGS
>>> Performance
Drawn up for the first time in 2022, it further selects the universities already examined and ranked in the QS WUR Ranking, based on the public and recognized evidence of a sustainability policy conducted by the University, a widespread culture and a high level of participation in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), deducible from the bibliometrics of excellence.
In addition to the two analysis focuses of the pilot edition (2022), social impact and environmental impact, a focus on the governance of the University was added in 2023 (QS Sustainability 2024 edition)
More information can be found on the methodological pages of QS WUR - Sustainability
QS EUROPE UNIVERSITY RANKING
>>> Performance
Since September 2023, QS has been publishing this ranking with a detail of only the European universities already examined and ranked in the QS WUR Ranking.
The focus areas for performance analysis are as follows:
Research and Discovery (45% of the result): through the indicators Academic Reputation, Citations per Paper, Papers per Faculty, the quality of scientific research is assessed;
Employability and Outcomes (20%): brings together the hiring indicators of graduates and their results in the world of work Employer Reputation and Employment Outcomes
Learning Experience: is given by the Faculty Student Ratio (5%)
Global Engagement (25%): the International Research Network, International Faculty, International Students, Inbound Exchange Students and Outbound Exchange Students indicators estimate the degree of internationalization of the institution;
Sustainability (5%): derives from the QS Sustainability Ranking. It assesses the social and environmental impact of universities as centers of education and research. According to QS, it is a vitally important indicator to support universities in their action for a more sustainable future.
In the graph the details of the weights attributed to the individual indicators.
UPCS_Ranking
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Ranking Unit
Statistical Data and Ranking Coordination Sector
UPCS - Strategic Planning and Control Office