The QS World University Rankings by subject — an annual publication of world university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Limited — have been published for the year 2017 on March 8. The QS ranking is considered to be one of the most influential in the world, alongside the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Naturally, the annual publication of the ranking is the focus of many employers, academics, and students worldwide.

In the 2017 rankings, QS has published rankings for 47 different subjects for the top 100 (500 in some) universities. The QS rankings used several indicators, weighted in descending order: academic peer review (40%), faculty/student ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), employer reputation (10%), international student ratio (5%), and international staff ratio (5%). The rankings were designed in accordance with what QS believes to be principal aspects of a learning institution’s mission: “teaching, research, nurturing employability, and internationalisation.”

KAIST continued its upward trend this year, placing near world-famous institutions such as Georgia Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology. Six academic disciplines of KAIST have placed in the top 20 in their respective rankings. Subjects that have been placed within the top 20 are Materials Science and Engineering (13th), Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (15th), Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (15th), Civil and Environmental Engineering (15th), Electrical Engineering (17th), and Chemistry (18th). Two more disciplines have advanced into the top 20 rankings since last year’s QS rankings.

KAIST has also proved itself once again as South Korea’s best science and engineering institution by far, emerging as the top domestic university in seven engineering disciplines: Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, and Computing (33rd). Additionally, Physics (44th) and Mathematical Sciences (47th) were ranked second within the country.

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