The 15 best universities in South Africa for science, technology and engineering

 ·28 Oct 2022

Times Higher Education has published its global university ranking by subject, showing which South African universities come out on top when looking at key subjects like computer science, engineering and physical sciences.

The Times Higher Education World University Ranking claims to be the only global performance table that judges research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

It uses 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

The performance indicators are grouped into five areas:

  • Teaching (the learning environment);
  • Research (volume, income and reputation);
  • Citations (research influence);
  • International outlook (staff, students and research); and
  • Industry income (knowledge transfer).

For the subject rankings, the same indicators are used but are recalibrated per subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields.

The group’s subject rankings look at 11 broad fields of study, including arts and humanities, law, education, health, science and technology, among others. BusinessTech looked at which universities ranked top in technical fields, including Computer Science, Engineering and Physical Sciences.

15 universities total from South Africa ranked among the top in the world in these subjects, with nine featuring in the computer science ranking, 10 in the engineering ranking and 15 in the physical science ranking.

Stellenbosch University (SU) ranked as the top school for computer science in the country while ranking in the same band as two others for engineering. Six universities ranked within the same band for physical sciences.

SU shares first place in Engineering and Technology with Unisa and North-West University while leading the way in Physical Sciences alongside North-West University, the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of the Free State, Rhodes University, and the University of the Western Cape.


Computer Science 

Overall, 974 universities were ranked, up from 892 last year.

University Ranking
Stellenbosch University 401-500
University of Cape Town 601-800
University of Johannesburg 601-800
University of KwaZulu Natal 601-800
North-West University 601-800
University of Pretoria 601-800
University of the Witwatersrand 601-800
University of South Africa (Unisa) 801+
Tshwane University of Technology 801+

Physical Science

This subject field ranks universities that are leading across the following disciplines: mathematics and statistics, physics and astronomy, chemistry, geology, environmental sciences, as well as earth and marine sciences.

Overall, 1,307 universities were ranked, up from 1,227 last year.

University Ranking
University of Cape Town 401-500
University of the Free State 401-500
North-West University 401-500
Rhodes University 401-500
Stellenbosch University 401-500
University of the Western Cape 401-500
University of KwaZulu Natal 501-600
Tshwane University of Technology 501-600
University of Johannesburg 601-800
University of Pretoria 601-800
University of South Africa (Unisa) 601-800
University of the Witwatersrand 601-800
Durban University of Technology 801-1000
University of Fort Hare 1001+
University of Venda 1001+

Engineering

This subject field highlights the universities that are leading across the following disciplines: general engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, civil engineering and chemical engineering.

Overall, 1,306 universities were ranked, up from 1,188 last year.

University Ranking
North-West Unviersity 401-500
University of South Africa 401-500
Stellenbosch University 401-500
University of Johannesburg 501-600
Tshwane University of Technology 501-600
University of Cape Town 601-800
University of KwaZulu Natal 601-800
University of Pretoria 601-800
University of the Witwatersrand 601-800
Durban University of Technology 801-1000

Read: High-demand careers in South Africa that don’t require a university degree

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