UGA is thus ranked among the world’s best universities in 26 of the 55 disciplines assessed and features in all five major subject areas analysed by QS. In particular, it has climbed to 91^st place worldwide in the ‘Natural Sciences’ category, thereby entering the global top 100.

A ranking to measure academic performance

The 2026 edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, published by the international higher education analyst QS Quacquarelli Symonds, provides an independent comparative analysis of more than 18,300 university programmes, undertaken by students at over 1,700 universities across 100 countries, covering 55 academic disciplines.

These assessments are organised into five main subject areas:

• Arts & Humanities
• Engineering and Technology
• Life Sciences & Medicine
• Natural Sciences
• Social Sciences & Management

The broad field of Natural Sciences, in which UGA ranks 91^st worldwide, comprises nine disciplines: Chemistry, Earth and Marine Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Geology, Geophysics, Materials Sciences, Mathematics, Physics & Astronomy.

UGA recognised in 26 disciplines

Among the disciplines included in the rankings, Université Grenoble Alpes stands out in particular:

World Top 50

• Geophysics: 26^th
• Geology: 32^nd
• Earth and Marine Sciences: 36^th

World Top 150

• Physics & Astronomy: 121^st
• Mathematics: 150^th

World Top 200

• Anatomy & Physiology
• Chemistry
• Civil Engineering
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Linguistics
• Materials Science
• Environmental Science
• Statistics and Operational Research

Across all these disciplines, the institution remains in the world’s top 200.

A methodology based on academic excellence and scientific impact

QS uses five key indicators to compile its subject rankings:

• Academic reputation
• Employer reputation
• Research citations per paper
• H-index (research productivity and impact)
• International research network (global scientific collaboration)

These reputation indicators are based on responses from over 200,000 employers and academics worldwide.