The best universities in South Africa for science, maths and technology
The 2021 edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject has been released, featuring science, maths and technology courses from seven local universities, ranked among the best in the world.
The QS rankings identifies which subjects universities are particularly strong at compared to international competitors, looking specifically at academic reputation and research output.
Research citations, along with the results of major global surveys of employers and academics are also used to rank the tertiary institutions,
The University of Cape Town has emerged as the top institute in most of the 11 science, maths and tech subjects that featured local institutes. UCT ranked top (or tied) in eight subjects.
The exceptions were in the fields of electrical engineering and mathematics, where the University of Pretoria ranked as the top in the country, and mining engineering where Wits took the top position (UCT did not rank).
It’s also in mining engineering where South Africa performed best overall, with Wits and the University of Pretoria ranking within the top 50 universities across the globe – placing 13th and 48th, respectively.
Aside from mining engineering, South Africa’s universities placed outside the top 100 universities in the world in other subjects. For universities outside the top 100, QS only provides placement figures in a narrow range.
South Africa had the most universities ranked in chemical engineering.
This is how local universities fared:
Maths and Engineering
| Chemical Engineering | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Cape Town | 251-300 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 251-300 |
| Stellenbosch University | 301-350 |
| University of Johannesburg | 301-350 |
| University of Pretoria | 301-350 |
| University of KwaZulu-Natal | 351-400 |
| University of South Africa | 351-400 |
| Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Cape Town | 251-300 |
| Stellenbosch University | 301-350 |
| University of Pretoria | 301-350 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 351-400 |
| University of Johannesburg | 451-500 |
| Electronic and Electrical Engineering | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Pretoria | 251-300 |
| Stellenbosch University | 351-400 |
| University of Cape Town | 351-400 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 451-500 |
| Mathematics | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Pretoria | 401-450 |
| Stellenbosch University | 451-500 |
| University of Cape Town | 451-500 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 451-500 |
| Mineral and Mining Engineering | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 13 |
| University of Pretoria | 48 |
| Civil and Structural Engineering | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Cape Town | 151-200 |
Science and Technology
| Chemistry | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Cape Town | 351-400 |
| University of KwaZulu-Natal | 401-450 |
| Stellenbosch University | 451-500 |
| University of Johannesburg | 451-500 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 451-500 |
| University of Pretoria | 501-550 |
| Physics and Astronomy | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Cape Town | 201-250 |
| University of Johannesburg | 401-450 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 401-450 |
| Stellenbosch University | 501-550 |
| University of KwaZulu-Natal | 501-550 |
| Computer Science and Information Systems | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Cape Town | 301-350 |
| University of Pretoria | 451-500 |
| Stellenbosch University | 601-650 |
| Geophysics | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Cape Town | 101-150 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 151-200 |
| Earth and Marine Sciences | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| University of Cape Town | 101-150 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 151-200 |
Read: When and how South African universities will open in 2021
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