Students are seen at the National University of Singapore, March 2026. Photo from the university’s Facebook page
Two Singaporean universities have secured spots among the world’s top 10 institutions for Chemistry, signaling the city-state’s rising dominance in global science and research.
The 2026 QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Rankings by Subject evaluated nearly 700 universities worldwide for their chemistry programs and Singapore stood out as one of the few nations to place two separate institutions in the highest tier.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) climbed to 6th place globally and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) followed closely behind in 8th.
This achievement reflects the massive research output and growing academic reputation of both schools, allowing the city-state to prove its ability to compete directly with traditional academic powerhouses in the United States and Europe.
The upper echelon of the rankings remains dominated by American and British institutions, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) leading the pack in first place.
Harvard University and the University of Cambridge followed in a tie for second, while Stanford University and the University of Oxford rounded out the top five.
The top 10 also featured the University of California, Berkeley, in 7th place. ETH Zurich secured the 9th spot, and Imperial College London completed the list.
QS is recognized as one of the three primary global ranking bodies, alongside Times Higher Education and the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
To determine these rankings, QS utilizes five key metrics. Academic reputation is the most significant, carrying between 40% and 60% of the weight. Other critical factors include employer reputation, citations per paper, the H-index, and the International Research Network, which tracks how effectively institutions collaborate across borders.
The 2026 subject rankings covered 55 different disciplines across five broad categories, ranging from Life Sciences to the Arts. This year’s evaluation was the most comprehensive to date, assessing more than 1,900 universities. This represents an increase of approximately 200 institutions compared to the previous year’s cycle.
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