Finnish universities mean business in global ShanghaiRanking

GRAS evaluates universities worldwide in 55 subjects across natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences. The Finnish universities fared the best in business administration, where three placed among the global top 20. Hanken School of Economics jumped from the 51–75 bracket in 2022 to 12th this year, while Aalto University ranked 17th and the University of Vaasa 18th.

Five other Finnish universities placed outside the top 50 in the subject: the University of Turku, Tampere University, the University of Oulu, Lappeenranta University of Technology and the University of Helsinki.

“We can obviously be pleased with the latest international rankings. The results reflect the excellent work carried out by our researchers,” Hanken rector Ingmar Björkman commented. 

Overall, the University of Helsinki and Aalto University placed most often in the top 100, in 16 and eight categories respectively. Helsinki’s highest ranking came in ecology (20) and Aalto’s in business administration (17). Aalto ranked among the top 50 in three other subjects as well: marine and ocean engineering (19), textile science and engineering (41), and library and information science (49). 

The University of Oulu did notably well in engineering subjects, ranking 29th in telecommunication engineering and 46th in electrical and electronic engineering. 

The universities of Jyväskylä, Eastern Finland and Åbo Akademi were also featured in the GRAS ranking, with Jyväskylä placing 38th in library and information science.

ShanghaiRanking has published global university rankings by academic subjects since 2009. The current methodology was introduced in 2017 and uses a range of academic indicators and third-party data, including research output, research influence, international collaboration, research quality and international academic awards.

In total, over 1 900 universities were evaluated in the 2023 GRAS. The top performer was Harvard University in the US, which took first place in 11 fields.

Earlier this year, nine Finnish universities were included in the QS World University Rankings, showcasing their academic excellence on the world stage.