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The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) has placed two of Wits’ subjects in the top 10 of Subject Rankings globally.

The CWUR published its inaugural Subject Rankings on 3 April 2017.

Wits was ranked second for Area Studies and fifth for Anthropology, making it the only African institution ranked in this subject category, alongside institutions like University College London, the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Arizona State University.

There are more than 23 500 universities in the world. The CWUR Rankings by Subject 2017 ranks the world’s leading global universities in 227 subjects covering all academic disciplines in the sciences and social sciences. The ranking is based on the number of research articles in international top-tier journals. Data are obtained from Clarivate Analytics (previously the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters).CWUR publishes only the list of institutions in the Top 10 for each subject.

Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research at Wits, says the University is pleased with its performance in the rankings. “The past few years we have significantly increased our research output and have had an increase in the number of highly rated scientists. Leading local and international scholars have also joined the Wits and we now host the largest number of DST/NRF Centres of Excellence in the country. This is part of Wits’ commitment to being a nationally responsive and globally competitive institution.”

QS World University Rankings

The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017, released on the 8 March 2017 ranked Wits in 24 of the 48 subjects. Wits ranked 18th in Development Studies (second in South Africa) and 22nd in Mineral & Mining Engineering, up from 51-100 in last year's ranking. Wits is the only South African university to be ranked in this subject.

For the first time this year, the University has been ranked in the following seven subjects:

• Sociology in the top 250 (201-250)
• Business & Management Studies in the top 300 (251-300)
• Chemical Engineering in the top 300 (251-300)
• Psychology in the top 300 (251-300)
• Economics & Econometrics in the top 400 (351-400)
• Mathematics in the top 400 (351-400)
• Chemistry in the top 450 (401-450)

Wits’ other QS rankings include:

• Top 100 (51-100) in the Archaeology and Anthropology. This places Wits is in the top 100 for four subjects.
• Top 150 (101-150) in English Language & Literature, Geography, Law, and Politics & International Studies (up from 151-200 last year).
• Top 200 (151-200) in Communication & Media Studies, Earth & Marine Sciences, History, and Medicine.
• Top 250 (201-250) in Agriculture & Forestry, Education & Training, Pharmacy & Pharmacology, and Sociology (NEW - as above).
• Top 300 (251-300) in Business & Management Studies, Chemical Engineering, and Psychology (all NEW - as above).
• Top 400 (351-400) in Biological Sciences,Economics & Econometrics, Mathematics (both NEW - as above), and Physics & Astronomy.
• Top 450 (401-450) in Chemistry (NEW - as above).

Issued by University of the Witwatersrand