Along with education, USask moved up in three other subjects among the 11 broad subject areas assessed by THE for its 2023 rankings, with arts and humanities moving to the 301-400 category (previously 401-500), physical sciences to 301-400 (previously 401-500) and law, previously unranked, moving into the 201-250 band.
Compared to 2022, USask remained constant in six other subject areas: computer science, engineering, life sciences, social sciences (all in the 301-400 band), psychology (401-500) and business and economics (501-600). The only decline was in clinical and health, down one tier to 501-600.
“These rankings indicate that our university is making gains globally every year as we strive to be the university the world needs,” said USask Vice-President Research Baljit Singh. “They reflect the outstanding work of our researchers and academics, and their commitment to excellence and to contribute to improving the world.”
The subject rankings are part of the World University Rankings compiled annually by THE, a weekly British magazine that reports specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
THE ranked 1,799 universities overall in its 2023 ranking, with more than 500 others classified as “reporter institutions” not considered because they didn’t meet criteria. To be considered for a subject ranking, an institution must meet a certain threshold for the number of papers published in the discipline area, as well as in the proportion of faculty who work in the discipline. This is the first year that USask has been ranked in all 11 subject areas THE includes in its assessment.
Early analysis of the results points to a significantly higher citations score for education as a reason for USask's strong performance in this category. Nationally, education rose to tie at No. 10 in 2023 from a tie for 14 last year, and among U15 universities, USask tied for ninth spot, up from No. 11.
USask’s best performance growth was in arts and humanities, which rose five positions to tie at No. 15 among 31 Canadian institutions. USask tied for 10th spot in this subject area among its U15 counterparts, up from No. 14 in 2022. Physical sciences rose five positions from 2022 to tie for ninth among Canadian universities in the 2023 rankings.
Computer science at USask, although unchanged from last year, remained the university’s best performer in any subject among U15 institutions, tied at No. 7. Physical sciences rose by one spot to tie for eighth among U15 institutions, from a tie for ninth last year. Social sciences remained tied for ninth among the U15, and engineering tied for No. 10, same as last year.
Psychology was unchanged from last year with a rank of 14 among U15 schools. Business and economics, too, remained unchanged at the bottom of U15s, and life sciences dropped a spot in the U15, tied at No. 11, down from a tie at No. 10 last year.