The latest global universities Ranking from Times Higher Education has been developed and launched in partnership with Schmidt Science Fellows, and its publication has been celebrated at a Forum to explore best practice in interdisciplinary science.
Megan Kenna, Founding Executive Director of Schmidt Science Fellows and Rhodes Scholar, explains: “In recent decades, the structures of academia, research funding, and publication have rewarded an ever-increasing and narrow specialization. While depth of expertise is essential, so too is breadth of knowledge and the ability to connect ideas across disciplines. The solutions we need for the 21st century will come from the fertile intersection of fields like biology and data science or engineering and economics. They will come from bringing together people who don’t think alike -- but who think differently, creatively, and courageously. This is why the inaugural Interdisciplinary Science Ranking is so vital. For the first time, we are recognizing and championing the universities breaking barriers and harnessing the power of interdisciplinarity."
More than 250 researchers, academic and business leaders, and policymakers gathered in Washington DC for the Interdisciplinary Science Forum on the day the Ranking was released. As well as a deep dive into the methodology of the Ranking, delegates heard from expert panels which considered how to build organisations which foster interdisciplinarity, and the leadership qualities required to deliver consistent support for this approach.
“Human curiosity has no boundaries, and science—the way we satisfy that curiosity—should be no different,” said Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Sciences. “The universities in this inaugural Interdisciplinary Science Rankings are breaking down silos and creating new ways of pursuing knowledge, bringing us closer to transformative discoveries about ourselves and our universe.”
In association with Schmidt Science Fellows, the THE Interdisciplinary Science Rankings was created to recognise, incentivise, and celebrate interdisciplinary science in higher education across the globe. It provides universities with a benchmark of their interdisciplinary science work by measuring university performance in three areas: inputs (funding); process (measures of success, facilities, administrative support and promotion); and outputs (publications, research quality and reputation).
In the inaugural published Ranking, Massachusetts Institute of Technology takes the number one spot and Stanford University is in second place, while in total the US occupies seven of the top 10 positions. Singapore’s National University of Singapore takes third place and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore is in ninth position. Meanwhile, Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands is number seven, making it the highest ranked institution in Europe.
Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, said: “The Interdisciplinary Science Rankings launch is the largest in the history of the global THE Rankings, with 749 institutions across 92 countries ranked. This clearly demonstrates the importance and enormous global appetite for interdisciplinary research.”
Schmidt Science Fellows is an initiative of Schmidt Sciences, delivered in partnership with the Rhodes Trust. Schmidt Science Fellows helps scientists solve bigger problems faster by identifying, developing, and amplifying the next generation of science leaders, building a community of scientists and supporters of interdisciplinary science, and leveraging this network to drive sector-wide change.
Explore the Interdisciplinary Science Rankings here: Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2025 | Times Higher Education (THE)