The University of Alberta is the top institution in Canada for nursing and petroleum engineering, according to the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject. This year’s rankings also featured 15 subjects in the top 100 worldwide, highlighting a diversity of strengths for the U of A.
Nursing has continually climbed the QS rankings over the past few years, moving from 17th in the world in 2018 to 9th in 2022.
“Our faculty focuses on preparing nursing leaders, and this work has never been more necessary,” said Diane Kunyk, dean of the Faculty of Nursing. “A new doctoral program curriculum and recently redeveloped undergraduate, master’s and nurse practitioner programming are preparing nursing leaders to face challenges that are complex, global and critically important — and the pandemic has shown just how crucial this leadership is and will continue to be.”
The Faculty of Nursing has a history of excellence in areas including women and children’s health, health equity and healthy aging, alongside emerging strength in research on migration and mental health, and new research opportunities in Indigenous health, Kunyk noted.
The upward trajectory of this subject is due to high rankings across QS’s criteria. Nursing earned the U of A’s highest scores in the citations per paper and employer reputation categories, suggesting researchers are publishing impactful work and training highly employable professionals.
“What truly sets us apart is that we are a research-intensive faculty with world-leading researchers of the highest calibre,” said Kunyk. “This work spans the full human experience, with cutting-edge research leadership in areas across the bookends of life.”
Petroleum engineering retained its top rank in Canada for the third straight year, and was the highest-scoring U of A subject in the h-index category, which measures the impact and quality of published work.
“In the past few years, our faculty has faced unprecedented challenges. Despite these challenges we have maintained our commitment to providing exceptional learning opportunities and continue to be a leader in innovative research,” said Simaan AbouRizk, interim dean in the Faculty of Engineering.
Several other subjects within the engineering and technology subject area also ranked highly on the global stage, including mineral and mining engineering (12th) and chemical engineering (moving up from 97th to 81st). Electrical engineering; civil and structural engineering; and mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering all ranked within the top 10 nationally.
“These rankings are reflective of our combined efforts, perseverance and passion for our work. We are well positioned to continue to excel,” added AbouRizk.
“We are so proud of the performance of our nursing and petroleum engineering programs, with exceptional rankings of first in Canada and top 10 globally,” said U of A president Bill Flanagan.
The U of A’s strength in the national rankings is notable given that Canada is the 6th most represented country on the list.
While sports-related subjects remained strong with a position of 16th internationally, anatomy and physiology saw a significant boost in the rankings, going from 34th in 2021 to 21st in the world this year. Anatomy and physiology also featured the U of A’s best performance in the academic reputation category.
Several subjects with a consistently strong national ranking rose this year as well, including linguistics (6th), modern languages (5th), history (5th), law (8th), business and management studies (6th), statistics and operational research (7th) and sociology (5th). Psychology moved into the top 10 in Canada for the first time since 2018, ranking 8th.
“Of the 38 subject areas included in the rankings from the U of A, more than 60 per cent increased or maintained their standing,” said Flanagan.
“With several subject areas in the top 100 in the world, the U of A’s showing in this year’s QS subject rankings is a powerful demonstration of the breadth and depth of our research and teaching.”
In all, 15 subjects ranked within the top 100 worldwide, including agriculture and forestry (74th), education (87th), pharmacy and pharmacology (85th), accounting and finance (95th), medicine (90th) and chemistry (100th). Earth and marine sciences, geology and geophysics each ranked among the 51-100 group.
The annual QS World University Rankings by Subject are compiled by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a global higher educational consultancy. This year, the QS team ranked 1,521 institutions across 51 subjects. Scores are determined by examining a variety of criteria, including academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper and h-index.