Rankings of Natural Sciences Programmes in the Arab Region

Forty-nine programmes in the natural sciences at 15 Arab universities are ranked in the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject.

The subject listings are part of the QS World University Rankings portfolio published each year by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a British higher-education analytics company. This year, the subject rankings analyse more than 15,000 programmes in 51 subjects at universities around the world, including 324 programmes in the Arab region.

Following is a synopsis of how Arab universities fared in the broad faculty area of the natural sciences, as well as within the nine subjects grouped under this category: chemistry, earth and marine sciences, environmental sciences, geography, geology, geophysics, materials sciences, mathematics, and physics and astronomy.

Natural Sciences 

Only six Arab universities were among the 500 universities worldwide ranked for their programmes in natural sciences over all. They included four Saudi universities and two universities in Egypt.

King Abdulaziz University made it into the top 200 universities, ranking 132nd.

The top 300 universities in natural sciences also included King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), ranked 201st; King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), 281st (up from 362nd in 2021); Cairo University (292nd); and King Saud University (295th).

Egypt’s Ain Shams University among a group of universities ranked 401-450.

Chemistry

Out of 630 chemistry programmes ranked worldwide this year, fifteen were at universities in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz University came in at 69th globally, up from 112th in 2021, while King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) ranked 104th.

Two other Saudi universities were among the top 200 worldwide: King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals and King Saud University, both in a group ranked 151-200.

Cairo University was in the next group, ranked 251-300, while the United Arab Emirates’ Khalifa University was in the group ranked 351-400.

Egypt’s Ain Shams University and Qatar University were ranked 401-450

Four of the region’s universities ranked 451-500: the American University of Beirut, the University of Jordan, and Egypt’s Alexandria University and Mansoura University.

Egypt’s Assiut University and the United Arab Emirates University both ranked 551-600, and the Lebanese University ranked 601-630.

Materials Sciences 

The top 100 programmes in materials sciences included two at Saudi institutions: KAUST (68th) and King Abdulaziz University (89th). KFUPM was just outside that group, ranked 101-150.

Other Arab universities among the 410 ranked in this subject included King Saud University (151-200); Cairo University (251-300); Khalifa University and Qatar University (both ranked 301-350); and Alexandria University (401-410).

Mathematics 

A total of 520 mathematics programmes were ranked this year, including ten at Arab universities.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz University made it into the top 100, ranking 65th, while King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals was in the group ranked 151-200.

Two other Saudi universities ranked 201-250: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and King Saud University.

They were followed by Cairo University (301-350) and the University of Jordan (351-400).

Three Arab universities were in the group ranked 401-450: Qatar University, Khalifa University, and the United Arab Emirates University. The American University of Beirut was in the block ranked 501-520.

Physics and Astronomy

Of the 610 programmes in physics and astronomy ranked this year, two at Saudi universities were among the 250: King Abdulaziz University and KAUST, both ranked 201-250.

Four other Arab universities were ranked: Cairo University and KFUPM, both ranked 351-400; King Saud University was in the 401-450 group, and Ain Shams University ranked 451-500.

Earth and Marine Sciences; Environmental Sciences 

Among the 220 programmes in earth and marine sciences ranked this year, Saudi Arabia stands alone in the Arab region. The three Saudi programmes listed were King Abdulaziz University and KAUST, both ranked 151-200, and KFUPM, ranked 201-220.

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Four programmes in environmental sciences at Arab universities were among the 460 that were listed this year. They included King Abdulaziz University (101-150), KAUST (151-200), Khalifa University (301-350), and Qatar University (351-400).

Geophysics; Geology; Geography

Arab institutions were not well represented in these three subjects.

The listings compare some 220 programmes in geophysics, and only two Arab universities were among them: King Abdulaziz University and KAUST, both ranked 151-200.

Of the 220 geology programmes ranked this year, only one was at an Arab university. That was King Abdulaziz University, ranking 151-200.

No Arab institutions were among the geography programmes ranked this year.

Related Reading 

• Rankings of Life Sciences and Medical Programmes in the Arab Region
• Best-Ranked Engineering and Technology Programmes in the Arab Region
• Arab Universities Advance in QS Rankings by Subject