The University of Otago has been rated the second-highest nationally among New Zealand universities in the latest QS world university subject rankings.
The university also now has five subjects in the top 50.
University of Otago academic deputy-vice-chancellor Helen Nicholson called the results a tribute to the institution’s academic and professional staff during a turbulent time.
To have five subjects ranked in the top 50 in the world, another eight in the top 100, and a total of 26 subjects in the global top 200 was welcome recognition of the range and quality of teaching and research across the spectrum at Otago, Prof Nicholson said.
Sports-related subjects held on to their spot at the university, still being in the top 20, globally.
Sports-related subjects ranked 14th, dentistry sat at 43rd and anatomy and physiology at 49th, while theology and religious studies and archaeology joined the top 50 at 47th and 48th respectively.
Eight subjects at Otago maintained their position in the top 51 to 100 band: performing arts, philosophy, psychology, nursing, earth and marine science, anthropology, development studies, and education, she said.
With a global ranking of 184th, Otago trails the University of Auckland (81st), but rates higher than Victoria University (223rd), the University of Canterbury (270th), Massey University (272nd), the University of Waikato (375th), Lincoln University (387th), and the Auckland University of Technology (437th).
The top three universities in the world were in the United States — Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Harvard University.
