The University of Bologna is first in Italy 16 times and 9 times in the global top 50 in the new edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, the UK ranking that evaluates universities’ positions in individual academic subjects.
The University of Bologna features in the rankings with 50 subjects (47 in 2025), demonstrating its broad multidisciplinary scope and the high quality of its teaching and research across all areas.
At the national level, the University of Bologna remains one of the country’s leading academic institutions, ranking first in 16 subjects: Modern Languages; Geography; Law; Veterinary Science; Agriculture & Forestry; Anthropology; Communication & Media Studies; Dentistry; History; Hospitality & Leisure Management; Statistics & Operational Research; English Language & Literature; Chemistry; Linguistics; Sports-related Subjects; Education.
In addition, the University of Bologna ranks in the global top 50 in nine subjects (six in 2025). The subjects are: Archaeology (19th place); Petroleum Engineering (24th place); Classics & Ancient History (28th place); Modern Languages (36th place); Geography (39th place); Law (40th place); Veterinary Science (43rd place); Agriculture & Forestry (46th place); History of Art (in the range between 26th and 50th place).
Compared to last year, the ranking also shows a clear improvement for the University of Bologna in several subjects, including: Chemistry (+37 positions); Biological Sciences (+34); Economics (+24); Archaeology (+22); Environmental Sciences (+18); Physics & Astronomy (+12).
Finally, it is worth noting that the University of Bologna features in all five broad subject areas of the ranking. Among these, it is 49th in the world for Arts & Humanities, in the top 100 for Social Sciences & Management (73rd place), in 103rd position for the broad area Natural Sciences, in 108th position for Life Sciences & Medicine and in 119th position for Engineering and Technology.
The QS World University Rankings by Subject uses the data collected for the QS global ranking, published in June 2025. For each of the subjects included in the rankings and the five broad subject areas, the score assigned to each university results from the different weighting of five indicators: Academic Reputation Survey; Employer Reputation Survey; Citations per Paper; H-Index; IRN – International Research Network (publications with international co-authors).
