Aalto University shapes a sustainable future. We are a highly international community with a strong academic standing. We place 53rd in the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking list of most international universities in the world.
The university has improved markedly in rankings specific to our fields: technology, business, and art & design. Our best ranking result is in the field of art & design, where we rank 8th globally according to QS.
Other subject-specific rankings are listed in the tables below.
Depending on how the figure is calculated, there are 17 000–22 000 universities in the world, of which approximately 1 000 are in Europe, around 70 in the Nordic countries, and 14 in Finland.
Different ranking lists use different indicators to compare universities. Most rankings evaluate research publications - their quantity and, for example, how many times they are cited. The criteria may also include external funding, an international dimension, or the university's reputation among researchers and employers. Usually, the overall score of a university is determined by combining its score on different indicators.
General rankings are comparisons which take a holistic view to evaluating universities. Aalto University has scored well in a general comparison focusing on universities less than 50 years old and listings measuring e.g. internationalisation or corporate collaboration.
Some rankings are specific to a single subject or field, and these are more relevant to a university such as Aalto University which specialises in three fields. Different disciplines have different publishing practices, and comparisons which focus on a specific field enable universities to be assessed on equal terms.
Organisations that produce rankings also create special lists which take into account only one indicator or criterion, such as an international dimension, business cooperation or external financing.
We track our ranking in the most widely known and respected university comparisons. The tables below list Aalto's position in various field-specific rankings in technology, business and art, in certain specific rankings concerning university-industry collaboration and internatiolisation together with a ranking for young universities. These positions show the high esteem, quality and impact of our research and teaching
The legend for the abbreviations used in the tables is at the bottom of the page.
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE – Engineering 2024 | 1 | 5–6 | 26–32 | 101–125 |
| NTU – Engineering 2023 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 247 |
| QS – Engineering & Technology 2023 | 1 | 7 | 54 | 166 |
| EngiRank 2023 | 1 | 2 (shared) | 10 (shared) | n/a |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Times – European Business Schools 2023 | 1 | 5 | 50 | - |
| THE – Business & Economics 2024 | 1 | 3 | 29 | 84 |
| NTU – Economics & Business 2023 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 123 |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QS – Art & Design 2023 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 (shared) |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE Young University Rankings 2023 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 40 |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leiden Ranking - Industry collaboration 2023 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 21 |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE Most International Universities 2024 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 53 |
The cornerstones of Aalto University research are four fundamental competence areas: ICT and digitalisation, materials and sustainable use of natural resources, global business dynamics, and arts and design. Aalto University also focuses on three integrative multidisciplinary themes: advanced energy solutions, health and wellbeing, and human-centered living environments.
The rankings listed below are specific to these key areas.
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leiden Ranking – Mathematics and Computer Science (number of top10% papers) 2023 |
1 | 5 | 18 | 134 |
| NTU – Computer Science 2023 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 112 |
| THE – Computer Science 2023 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 86 |
| Shanghai Ranking – Telecommunications Engineering 2023 |
3 | 3–5 | 9–15 | 51–75 |
| Shanghai Ranking – Computer Science and Engineering 2023 |
2 | 4–5 | 15–25 | 101–150 |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QS – Materials Sciences 2023 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 80 (shared) |
| NTU – Chemical Engineering 2023 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 122 |
| EngiRank – Chemical Engineering 2023 | 1 (shared) | 2 (shared) | 5 (shared) | n/a |
| EngiRank – Materials Engineering 2023 | 1 | 3 (shared) | 7 (shared) | n/a |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QS – Art & Design 2023 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 (shared) |
| QS – Architecture / Built Environment 2023 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 48 |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Ranking – Management 2023 | 1 | 2 | 9-15 | 51-75 |
| QS – Business and Management studies 2023 | 1 | 3 | 29 (shared) | 76 (shared) |
| Financial Times – Executive Education (open) 2023* | 2 | 5 | 38 | 59 (shared) |
| Financial Times – Executive Education (customised) 2023* | 2 | 3 | 23 | 32 |
| *Henley Business School (University of Reading) operates also in Finland and Denmark and is ranked above Aalto University. | ||||
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QS – Electrical and Electronic Engineering 2023 | 1 | 6 | 34 (shared) | 104 (shared) |
| NTU – Electrical Engineering 2023 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 128 |
| EngiRank – Electrical & Information Engineering 2023 | 1 | 5 | 9 (shared) | n/a |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QS – Architecture / Built Environment 2023 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 48 |
| Shanghai Ranking – Transportation Science and Technology 2023 | 1 | 4–6 | 18–32 | 101–150 |
| Shanghai Ranking – Marine/Ocean Engineering 2023 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 19 |
| EngiRank – Civil Engineering 2023 | 1 | 5 | 13 | n/a |
| EngiRank – Environmental Engineering 2023 | 1 | 4 | 9 | n/a |
| EngiRank – Mechanical Engineering 2023 | 1 | 4 | 7 (shared) | n/a |
| Ranking | Finland | Nordic countries | Europe | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EngiRank – Medical Engineering 2023 | 1 | 3 | 7 (shared) | n/a |
Shanghai Ranking has published its ARWU ranking (Academic Ranking of World Universities) since 2003, which makes ARWU the oldest of the large, international university rankings. The university-level ARWU ranking emphasises large, time-honoured universities that are active in traditional natural, life and medical sciences. Accordingly, the overall ARWU ranking is not very relevant for more specialised universities such as the Aalto University. In 2017, Shanghai Ranking launched 52 new subject rankings based on bibliometric indicators and international scientific awards. These subject rankings function well as tools for international benchmarking.
EngiRank, launched in 2023, is a new university ranking that seeks to evaluate engineering and technology programmes in the 27 European Union countries. In addition to bibliometric indicators, the ranking utilises indicators unique to the European Research Area (ERA) and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), such as participation in the Erasmus+ and Horizon programmes as well as in the European University Alliances. EngiRank publishes an institutional ranking and subject-based rankings within the general field of technology and engineering.
THE World University Rankings is based on 13 indicators. Reputation surveys have a considerable weight in the ranking, as do bibliometric analysis. THE is a widely respected ranking agent that widens its ranking portfolio continuously.
The reputation survey is the most essential factor in the QS rankings. It has the weight of 50% in the general rankings, and in certain fields of arts and humanities (such as Art & Design, which is important to Aalto), the entire ranking is solely based on the reputation survey. QS applies a number of indicators in its general rankings (and to a varying extent in field-specific rankings). In its publication and citation analysis based on the Scopus database of Elseview, QS does not take into account the differences between individual scientific fields regarding publication practices, but instead normalises its assessment to five main fields of science. Before 2015, QS did not take into account any differences in the publication and citation practices of different academic fields.
The NTU Ranking is based on the analysis of publication and citation data included in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database, which emphasises volume in addition to influence. NTU's analyses are in part normalised by academic fields, but by emphasising volume alongside research impact, the general rankings of NTU also highlight fields in which large publication and citation volumes are typical (particularly natural sciences and biomedicine). In field-specific rankings, the assessment is limited to selected fields.
Leiden Ranking does not as such produce one ranking; instead, it uses the Web of Science database of Thomson Reuters as a basis for calculating different, considerably advanced bibliometric indicators for the universities of the world, which can be used to put the universities in a ranking order if so desired. However, the indicators are presumably more suitable for analysing and comparing the publication profiles and impacts of universities with the help of a tool pack with comparable metrics.
The Financial Times publishes internationally respected comparisons in the field of businessa and economics. One key element is the surveys sent to universities and their alumni on issues such as career and salary development. Research publications and indicators of teaching staff also contribute to the results.
Do you want to study in the Nordics in Finland? At Aalto University science and art meet technology and business. We believe in the power of curiosity and encourage our students to explore the unknown as well as to learn and do things in a whole new way.
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