UCT has moved 18 places, from 121st to 103rd position in the 2021 US News and World Report Best Global Universities rankings.
The university was also ranked in the top 100 for six subjects, including an outstanding top 10 ranking for infectious diseases.
The Best Global Universities ranking places emphasis on academic research. They assess 1 748 universities, ranking the top 1 500 in terms of a university’s global and regional research reputation and academic research performance, using bibliometric indicators such as publications, citations (the number of times a publication is referred to) and international collaboration.
UCT’s deputy vice-chancellor for research and internationalisation said: “We’re delighted with UCT’s performance, which really does reflect our research community’s commitment to excellence. This has been a challenging year, yet we have remained steadfast in our focus and it is wonderful to be acknowledged for the work that we are doing.
“Our leading work in the health sciences has shown up particularly strongly in these rankings. We know that our researchers in the Faculty of Health Sciences do extraordinary work, and this pandemic has reminded us – if we ever needed reminding – of the critical work they do. I am also pleased to see our strengths reflecting well across disciplines in the subject rankings, as we know we cannot tackle our disease burdens – never mind the many other grand challenges – without reaching into social sciences and beyond.”
The university ranked 9th in the world in the top 10 infectious diseases subject, 36th in the environmental and occupational health subject and 47th in the immunology subject. It also took the 53rd spot in social sciences and public health subject research, 79th in microbiology and 92nd in psychiatry/psychology research.
UCT’s dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Professor Lionel Green-Thompson said the new ranking for infectious diseases and public, environmental and occupational health was “no accident”.
“Occupational health in the faculty has had an impact on the safety of health-care workers across the province and has found expression in the national discourse. The intersectoral nature of the disciplines which have been ranked augur well for future research in collaborative spaces,” said Green-Thompson.