When QS recently published its subject rankings, Chalmers had moved up the list in the subject area Engineering – Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing, rising from 69th place last year to 57th this year.
“Naturally, this is very encouraging and gives a great deal of energy to the department,” says Rikard Söderberg, Head of Chalmers’ newly established Department of Mechanical Engineering.
The QS World University Rankings cover around 1,500 universities worldwide. In addition to its overall university rankings, QS also publishes rankings within specific subject areas. In the 2026 results, Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering is the subject area in which Chalmers performs most strongly. Last year, Chalmers was ranked 69th in the world, and this year the university has climbed to 57th place.
“I see this as a clear confirmation of our expertise and that we are doing the right things,” says Rikard Söderberg.
The ranking includes nearly 600 universities in this particular subject area, placing Chalmers within approximately the top 10–12 per cent globally.
Strong position in international competition
Historically, mechanical engineering has been an area in which Chalmers has performed particularly strongly, alongside Electrical Engineering, Materials Science and Architecture. One explanation may be that technical universities often perform well in their core disciplines.
The QS subject rankings are largely based on survey responses in which academics and employers “nominate” institutions. This is done by identifying the universities they consider strongest according to two so-called reputation indicators: Academic Reputation and Employer Reputation. Academic Reputation broadly reflects how researchers and academics worldwide assess the quality of an institution within a specific subject area, while Employer Reputation concerns, for example, how employers value graduates from a particular institution in a given discipline.
More international respondents
Anders Friberg works as an adviser focusing on analysis, performance monitoring and university rankings.
“The most important explanations for the positive net change are the two reputation indicators,” he says. “We have improved in Academic Reputation, and here we can see a possible contributing factor in the larger number of Swedish respondents in 2025 compared with 2023 and 2024. We have also improved in Employer Reputation. Here we clearly see more international respondents in 2025 than in previous years. In next year’s rankings, we hope to see positive effects from our work during 2025 and 2026 on reputation-enhancing measures and increased engagement with QS surveys.”
Kristina Wärmefjord is Deputy Head of Department at Mechanical Engineering and has worked on initiatives to improve Academic Reputation, including through various workshops. Researchers were invited to suggest measures that could positively influence the rankings and assess how difficult these would be to implement.
Conduct excellent research – and communicate it effectively
“At its core, it is naturally about conducting excellent research, but also about increasing visibility and promoting achievements, for example by sharing successes on social media,” she says. “It is also about improving research communication and communicating effectively by publishing in prestigious journals.”
Active participation in conferences has also been identified as an important opportunity to improve rankings, as well as hosting international conferences and acting as a well-prepared ambassador for both the department and Chalmers when presenting research.
“Many researchers highlight the importance of promoting international collaborations and exchanges, something that can be achieved, for example, by involving more partners in publications. Other approaches include inviting research partners to the department and organising international summer schools,” she says.
Make an impact
Rikard Söderberg emphasises that, with the establishment of a unified Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chalmers now has a clear identity within the field, while also strengthening opportunities for internal collaboration. He points out that it is an explicit ambition for the new department to drive the next stage of development, both scientifically and in collaboration with industry and society.
“The rankings once again show that our field is one of Chalmers’ absolute strongest. We will now build a strong and clearly defined department and take our natural role both nationally and internationally. We will make an impact.”
Chalmers’ highest-ranked subject areas
Here are Chalmers’ top-ranked subject areas in the QS Rankings 2026 (2025 figures in brackets):
57 (69) Engineering – Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing
77 (88) Engineering – Electrical & Electronic
78 (88) Materials Science
84 (71) Architecture & Built Environment
Source: QS
- Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering
- Deputy Head Of Department, Mechanical Engineering