NTU Singapore ranked in the global top five in Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings

 

 

 

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

Singapore, 20 November 2025

 

NTU Singapore ranked in the global top five in Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has been ranked 5th in the world in the latest Times Higher Education’s Interdisciplinary Science Rankings released today.

 

Jumping several spots from its 9th position last year, NTU is the only university in Singapore in the global top five, and also the only one from Asia. The top five is dominated by top American universities, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology taking pole position, followed by Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley.

 

NTU Deputy President and Provost Professor Christian Wolfrum said: “NTU’s placement in the top five of the Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings is a recognition of how far we have come in interdisciplinary research and education. NTU has long recognised that to tackle the toughest challenges in our society and the world, the solutions are found between disciplines and rarely fall within one discipline. Being interdisciplinary is at the heart of this university as we break down walls between disciplines, not just in research but also in education.”

 

This Interdisciplinary Science Rankings measures a university’s interdisciplinary scope in funding, processes, and outputs (publications, research quality and reputation). NTU achieved a perfect score in one of the metrics, measures of interdisciplinary success, and performed well in volume of interdisciplinary publications and reputation for interdisciplinary science research.

 

 

Interdisciplinary approach in research and education

 

NTU has numerous institutes and centres conducting multidisciplinary research to address complex challenges facing society today.

 

These include the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Earth Observatory of Singapore, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Health, and Centre of AI in Medicine.

 

Professor Wolfrum said: “At NTU, we believe that excellence begins with strong disciplinary foundations, and we have created a conducive environment for our researchers and students to work across fields easily. Our faculty are problem solvers who drive cutting-edge discoveries and innovations through building interdisciplinary teams and collaborations.”

 

NTU has more than 100 faculty members who hold joint appointments across schools or colleges, allowing them to draw upon expertise in different domains.  

 

In this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate released on 12 November, half of the 33 NTU scientists were recognised for their work in interdisciplinary areas. These include areas such as computer science, materials science, clinical medicine, biology and biochemistry, chemistry, engineering, and physics.

 

Scientists on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list are those whose research publications are among the top 1 per cent, based on the number of citations for their fields and year.

 

In education, NTU’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme offers PhD students opportunities to pursue multi- and inter- disciplinary PhD research programmes, where they concentrate on two or more disciplines, instead of one.

 

This emphasis on interdisciplinary science is also grounded at an undergraduate level, where students enrol in compulsory Interdisciplinary Collaborative Core modules to immerse them early in cross-discipline learning.

 

 

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