Among the French universities most heavily represented in the 2026 Shanghai Subject Ranking, which was just released on Tuesday, September 15, theUniversité Grenoble Alpes confirms the breadth of its scientific excellence. Ranked in 31 disciplines in the Shanghai Subject Ranking—including 11 in the global top 100—the UGA once again ranks among the French universities with the strongest presence in this international ranking. This recognition illustrates the strength of its scientific ecosystem and its research policy, which is based in particular on interdisciplinarity.
After ranking in 30 disciplines in 2025—with 10 disciplines in the world’s top 100 and 19 in France’s top 5—theUniversité Grenoble Alpes confirmed the breadth of its scientific influence in 2026, with 31 ranked disciplines, including 11 in the world’s top 100.
It is thus one of four French universities with more than 10 disciplines ranked in the top 100 of the Shanghai subject-based rankings, alongside three Parisian universities: Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne University, and Paris Cité. It also ranks 14 times in the top 5 in France, including three first-place national rankings in remote sensing, automation and control, and geography. Of note is UGA’s global visibility in two new disciplines: mining and mineral engineering and medical technology.
These results reinforce UGA’s standing among France’s leading research universities and underscore the value of its partnership with, in particular, Grenoble INP–UGA, which contributes to UGA’s achievements in engineering research.
More broadly, it is the quality and diversity of UGA’s scientific output—driven by an ecosystem that brings together the university and national research organizations—that is recognized in this latest edition of the Shanghai Thematic Ranking.
A commitment to excellence grounded in interdisciplinary approaches
The diversity of disciplines in which UGA is ranked reflects one of the key priorities of its scientific policy: fostering dialogue among disciplines and scientific communities to address complex issues that cannot be tackled through a single scientific approach.
This ambition is reflected in particular in the Cross-Disciplinary Programs (CDP), created in 2016 as part of the Initiative of Excellence (Idex). Over the past ten years, these programs have become a cornerstone of the scientific policy at the Grenoble campus. Their goal is to transcend the boundaries between disciplines, laboratories, and institutions in order to foster new areas of research and build sustainable interdisciplinary scientific communities.
In 2026, the UGA accredited seven new cross-disciplinary programs, covering topics as diverse as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), sustainable materials, space applications, focused ultrasound in neurology, cellulose-based materials, sustainable automotive electronics, and the evolution of snow.
These new programs draw on expertise from fields such as environmental science, chemistry, physics, engineering, health, the humanities and social sciences, and digital sciences. They demonstrate the UGA’s commitment to using interdisciplinarity as a tool to generate new knowledge and address major scientific, technological, environmental, health, and societal challenges.
The continuation of four Cross-Disciplinary Programs launched in 2022—DefiCO2, MUSITOX2, PowerAlps, and SPORT PERF HEALTH 2.0—along with the seven new programs accredited in 2026, brings the total number of CDPs in this new phase to eleven.
A long-term scientific initiative
Beyond the results achieved in international rankings, this momentum is driven by a particularly rich scientific ecosystem centered on theUniversité Grenoble Alpes and the national research organizations located on its campus.
This policy aims to foster new collaborations, bring together scientific communities that typically work in different fields, and establish interdisciplinary centers capable of addressing major contemporary challenges in all their dimensions.
Through its rankings in the 2026 Shanghai Thematic Ranking, theUniversité Grenoble Alpes thus confirms both the strength of its disciplinary expertise and its ability to foster collaboration across disciplines. This synergy is one of the major strengths of its research and contributes to its international scientific reputation.
Of the 57 disciplines evaluated, UGA is ranked 31 times, including 11 times in the top 100
| Subject |
Rank |
Position |
| Remote Sensing |
20th (-6) |
No.1 university in France |
| Earth Sciences |
33rd (-12) |
4th-ranked university in France |
| Automation and Control |
51–75 (++) |
Ranked 1–4 among French universities |
| Mathematics |
51–75 (=) |
Ranked 5th–6th among French universities |
| Geography |
76–100 (++) |
No.1 university in France |
| Metallurgical Engineering |
76–100 (=) |
Ranked 2nd–4th among French universities |
| Clinical Medicine |
76–100 (=) |
Ranked 3rd–4th among French universities |
| Mining & Mineral Engineering |
76–100 (new) |
4th-ranked university in France |
| Atmospheric Science |
76–100 (=) |
Ranked 5th–7th among French universities |
| Ecology |
76–100 (=) |
Ranked 6th–7th among French universities |
| Physics |
76–100 (-) |
7th-ranked university in France |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
101–150 (=) |
2nd-ranked university in France |
| Oceanography |
101–150 (-) |
Ranked 8th–10th among French universities |
| Water Resources |
151–200 (-) |
Ranked 2nd–6th among French universities |
| Computer Science and Engineering |
151–200 (-) |
Ranked 3rd–5th among French universities |
| Materials Science and Engineering |
201–300 (-) |
Ranked 3rd–5th among French universities |
| Science and Technology Instruments |
201–300 (=) |
Ranked 2nd–3rd among French universities |
| Nanoscience and Nanotechnology |
201–300 (=) |
Ranked 2nd–5th among French universities |
| Energy Science & Engineering |
201-300 |
Ranked 2nd–4th among French universities |
| Artificial Intelligence |
201–300 (=) |
Ranked 4th–5th among French universities |
| Chemistry |
201–300 (=) |
Ranked 7th–11th among French universities |
| Biological Sciences |
201–300 (=) |
Ranked 8th–9th among French universities |
| Statistics |
201–300 (=) |
Ranked 9th–16th among French universities |
| Medical technology |
201–300 (new) |
Ranked 12th–20th among French universities |
| Mechanical Engineering |
201–300 (=) |
Ranked 13th–19th among French universities |
| Civil Engineering |
301–400 (=) |
Ranked 1–4 among French universities |
| Environmental Science and Engineering |
301–400 (-) |
Ranked 5th–10th among French universities |
| Psychology |
301–400 (=) |
Ranked 6th–9th among French universities |
| Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences |
301–400 (=) |
Ranked 7th–11th among French universities |
| Public Health |
301–400 (=) |
Ranked 9th–10th among French universities |
| Human Biological Sciences |
301–400 (=) |
Ranked 11th–14th among French universities |
Legend: = rank of 2,024; +: up one rank; ++: up two ranks; -: down one rank; --: down two ranks
Methodology of the Shanghai Subject Ranking
The Shanghai Subject Ranking (Global Ranking of Academic Subjects – GRAS) evaluates the performance of universities in various scientific disciplines. The indicators considered include the number of scientific publications, their impact and number of citations, publications in top scientific journals, the international scope of collaborations, and scientific awards received.
This year’s ranking covers 57 disciplines in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences, and social sciences, including two new disciplines added in 2025: artificial intelligence and robotics. In total, the Shanghai Ranking features 20,000 academic units from approximately 2,000 universities in about 100 countries and regions.
