Top Universities for Mathematics in 2015

Top Universities for Mathematics in 2015

Laura Tucker

Updated January 16, 2020 Updated January 16

**Click here to view the latest version of this article, based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017.

Calling all aspiring mathematicians! If you’re planning on going to university to study mathematics and want to study at a world-leading institution, look no further…

Here you’ll find an overview of the top math schools worldwide, spanning Europe, Asia, the Americas, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East, based on the latest release of the QS World University Rankings by Subject. Featuring 400 of the world’s top universities for mathematics, the ranking is based on global surveys of academics and employers, alongside data on research citations (find out more here).

See below for a rundown of the global top 10 universities for mathematics, followed by an overview of the leading schools in each region. For the full interactive ranking table, click here.

Top 10 Universities for Mathematics in the World

Based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015

Rank

Name of Institution

Location

1

Harvard University

United States

2

University of Cambridge

United Kingdom

3

University of Oxford

United Kingdom

4

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

United States

5

Stanford University

United States

6

University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

United States

7

Princeton University

United States

8

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

United States

9

ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)

Switzerland

10

University of Chicago

United States

See the full math school ranking >

 

Top universities for mathematics in the US and Canada

As is usual, the US claims the largest share of entrants in the ranking, with 73 of the 400 universities featured. Of these, 32 are ranked within the top 100 worldwide, including 22 in the top 50. Outside of the top 10 (listed above), these are New York University (NYU, 41st in the QS World University Rankings® 2014/15), the University of Michigan (23rd in the world rankings), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech, 8th in the world rankings), Columbia University (14th in the world rankings), the University of Texas at Austin (79th in the world rankings), Yale University (10th in the world rankings), Carnegie Mellon University (65th in the world rankings), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, 107th in the world rankings), the University of California, San Diego (UCSD, 59th in the world rankings),  Cornell University (19th in the world rankings), University of Wisconsin-Madison (41st in the world rankings), Northwestern University (34th in the world rankings), the University of Pennsylvania (13th in the world rankings), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (63rd in the world rankings) and Brown University (52nd in the world rankings).

Head north into Canada, and you’ll find another 19 of the world’s leading math schools. Six are within the top 100, and three feature in the top 50: the University of Toronto (20th in the world rankings), the University of Waterloo (169th in the world rankings) and the University of British Colombia (43rd in the world rankings).

Learn more about studying in the US and Canada with our country guides.

Top universities for mathematics in Europe

Some 33 of the world’s 400 top universities for mathematics are claimed by the UK, more than any other country in Europe. In addition to the prestigious Oxbridge duo, both in the top 10, also ranked among the world’s top 50 are Imperial College London (2= in the world rankings), the University of Edinburgh (17th in the world rankings) and the University of Warwick (61st in the world rankings).

Up next is Germany with 29 universities featured, two of which are within the world’s top 50 for mathematics. These are Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (177th in the world rankings) and Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin, 192nd in the world rankings). Of the 20 top mathematics universities in France, there are also two within the top 50. These are Ecole Polytechnique ParisTech (35th in the world rankings) and Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (ENS Paris, 24th in the world rankings).

In Italy, meanwhile, there are 17 top math schools. Although none of these make the top 50, Politecnico di Milano (229th in the world rankings), Sapienza – Università di Roma (202nd in the world rankings) and Università di Bologna (UNIBO, 182nd in the world rankings) are all within the top 100 for mathematics.

Of the 12 Spanish institutions featured in this ranking, just one is among the world’s top 100 – Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (173rd in the world rankings).

The Netherlands, boasting nine entrants in the mathematics ranking, has two within the world’s top 100: Delft University of Technology (86th in the world rankings) and the University of Amsterdam (50th in the world rankings). Belgium meanwhile offers six top math schools, including Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven, 82nd in the world rankings) and the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL, 154th in the world rankings).

Austria and Switzerland each have five schools in the running, with Switzerland claiming two representatives in the world’s top 50 for mathematics: ETH Zurich in 9th place (12th in the world rankings) and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, 17th in the world rankings).

There are a further 16 top universities for mathematics divided between the Nordic countries, with six in Sweden, four in Denmark and three apiece in Finland and Norway. Of these, three are ranked within the top 100 worldwide: the Swedish KTH, Royal Institute of Technology (110th in the world rankings), the Danish University of Copenhagen (45th in the world rankings) and the Finnish University of Helsinki (67th in the world rankings).

Russia offers five top mathematics universities, including Lomonosov Moscow State University (114th in the world rankings) in the top 50. And each with three institutions featured are Hungary, Ireland, Poland and Portugal. The top ranked of these is the Polish University of Warsaw (335th in the world rankings) ranked in the global top 150 for mathematics.

With two representatives each are the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania. Of these, the Czech Charles University (244th in the world rankings) is the highest ranked, in the 101-150 range. Lastly, Slovenia has one representative in the top 400, which is the University of Ljubljana (501-550 in the world rankings).

To find out about studying across Europe, see our full range of European country guides.

Top universities for mathematics in Australia and New Zealand

With 16 top mathematics universities in Australia and a further five in New Zealand, Oceania is another great region for ambitious mathematics students. While the University of Auckland (92nd in the world rankings) is New Zealand’s only offering in the top 100, Australia offers five within the world’s top 100. These are Australian National University (ANU, 25th in the world rankings), the University of Sydney (37th in the world rankings), the University of Melbourne (33rd in the world rankings), the University of New South Wales (UNSW, 48th in the world rankings) and the University of Queensland (UQ, 43rd in the world rankings).

Find about studying in Australia and New Zealand with our country guides.

Top universities for mathematics in Asia

Of the 29 universities in China featured in the mathematics ranking, Peking University (57th in the world rankings) in the only one within the world’s top 50. A further three are ranked within the top 100: Fudan University (71st in the world rankings), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (104th in the world rankings) and Tsinghua University (47th in the world rankings).

Across the rest of Asia, Japan offers 12 top mathematics universities, while South Korea has 11. Of these schools, Japan’s University of Tokyo (31= in the world rankings) and Kyoto University (36th in the world rankings) are ranked within the top 50 worldwide; so too is Korea’s Seoul National University (SNU, 31= in the world rankings).

India claims nine of the world’s 400 top universities for mathematics, including the Indian Institute of Science at 101-150, along with six of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology – the IITs of Bombay (IITB, 22nd in the world rankings), Delhi (IITD, 235th in the world rankings), Kanpur (IITK, 300th in the world rankings), Kharagpur (IITKGP, 324th in the world rankings), Madras (IITM, 322nd in the world rankings) and Roorkee (IITR, 461-470 in the world rankings).

Each with six schools featured are Hong Kong and Taiwan. While National Taiwan University (NTU) is Taiwan’s only offering in the top 100, Hong Kong has four within the top 50. These are the University of Hong Kong (HKU, 28th in the world rankings), City University of Hong Kong (108th in the world rankings), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST, 40th in the world rankings), and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, 46th in the world rankings).

Despite being unrepresented within the top 100, Malaysia claims five places in the mathematics ranking, including the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM, 259th in the world rankings) at 151-200.

Pakistan and Singapore meanwhile both claim two leaders in the field. While Pakistan’s best is Quaid-i-azam University at 201-250, both Singaporean schools are within the world’s top 50: the National University of Singapore (NUS, 22nd in the world rankings) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU, 39th in the world rankings).

Finally, Thailand has one representative, Chulalongkorn University (243rd in the world rankings), at 301-400.

See our Asian country guides for practical information on studying in Asia, or discover more top universities in the region with the latest QS University Rankings: Asia.

Top universities for mathematics in Latin America

A total of 15 top universities for mathematics are found in Latin America, of which eight belong to Brazil. Of these eight, the Universidade de São Paulo (USP, 132nd in the world rankings) and the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp, 206th in the world rankings) are both within the world’s top 100.

Three leading mathematics schools are located in Chile, including the Universidad de Chile (220th in the world rankings) at 101-150, and a further two in Mexico, including the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, 175th in the world rankings) also at 101-150.

Argentina and Colombia meanwhile each have one school ranked among the world’s top 400 for mathematics:  the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA, 198th in the world rankings) and Universidad Nacional de Colombia (316th in the world rankings) respectively.

Explore our Latin American country guides or find more top universities in this region with the latest QS University Rankings: Latin America.

Top universities for mathematics in Africa and the Middle East

Five top math schools are claimed by Israel, three of which are among the world’s top 100. These are the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (138th in the world rankings), Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (190th in the world rankings) and Tel Aviv University (195th in the world rankings).

In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, you’ll find three top universities for mathematics, including King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM, 225th in the world rankings) at 151-200. Turkey offers an additional two leading math schools, including Middle East Technical University (401-410 in the world rankings) at 201-250, while Egypt has one – Cairo University (551-600 in the world rankings) at 301-400.

In Africa there are just two universities featured in the mathematics ranking, both of which belong to South Africa. These are the University of Cape Town (141st in the world rankings) at 251-300 and Stellenbosch University (390th in the world rankings) at 301-400.

---

To learn more about any of the above world regions, see our where to study section. Or to explore the world’s leading universities in 35 more subjects, visit the QS World University Rankings by Subject homepage.

Want more content like this? Register for free site membership to get regular updates and your own personal content feed.

This article was originally published in May 2015 . It was last updated in January 2020

Written by

Laura is a former staff writer for TopUniversities.com, providing advice and guidance for students on a range of topics helping them to choose where to study, get admitted and find funding and scholarships. A graduate of Queen Mary University of London, Laura also blogs about student life.

Related Articles

Most Shared

Most Read

English