Top Chemical Engineering Schools in 2015

Discover the top chemical engineering schools based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020.

Bringing together the physical sciences with the life sciences, along with a little bit of mathematics and economics, is the subject of chemical engineering, a field involved in the production, transformation, and manufacturing of chemicals, materials and energy.

As such a cross-disciplinary subject, chemical engineering programs often operate across more than one department, with varied modules and teaching methods. The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015 can help you find the top chemical engineering schools worldwide, based on a methodology that assesses academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact.

If you think you might like to study chemical engineering at a leading school, see below for an overview of top chemical engineering universities in each world region. Or, full the full interactive table, click here.

Top chemical engineering schools in the US & Canada

The US dominates the rankings in many subjects, and chemical engineering is no exception. Some 51of the world’s 200 top universities for chemical engineering are based in the US. Other than those featured in the top 10 (above), also in the global top 50 are the University of Minnesota (119^th in the QS World University Rankings® 2014/15), University of Texas at Austin (79^th in the world rankings), University of Wisconsin-Madison (41^st in the world rankings), Princeton University (9^th in the world rankings), Yale University (10^th in the world rankings), Northwestern University (34^th in the world rankings), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, 107^th in the world rankings), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA,37^th in the world rankings), University of Pennsylvania (13^th in the world rankings), Purdue University (102^nd in the world rankings), University of Michigan (23^rd in the world rankings), Cornell University (19^th in the world rankings) and Columbia University (14^th in the world rankings).

Meanwhile Canada claims 11 of the world’s best chemical engineering schools, including the University of Toronto (20^th in the world rankings) and McGill University (21^st in the world rankings) in the top 50, and the University of Alberta and University of British Colombia (43^rd in the world rankings) in the top 100.

Read more about studying in the US and Canada here.

Top chemical engineering schools in Europe

Including three featured in the top 10 (above), the UK offers a total of 15 top universities for chemical engineering. Also in the global top 50 are the University of Manchester (30^th in the world rankings) and UCL (University College London, 5^th in the world rankings), while the top 100 features the University of Nottingham (77^th in the world rankings), University of Sheffield (69^th in the world rankings), University of Birmingham (64^th in the world rankings), University of Edinburgh (17^th in the world rankings) and University of Leeds (97^th in the world rankings).

There are eight German universities featured in the ranking, three of which are among the world’s top 50. These are Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen, 147^th in the world rankings), KIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (127^th in the world rankings) and Technische Universität München (TU Munich, 54^th in the world rankings.

In Italy, of the six schools featured, two are within the top 100 – Politecnico di Milano (229^th in the world rankings) and Università di Bologna (UNIBO, 182^nd in the world rankings). Spain has five representatives, with its two highest placings claimed by Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (421-430 in the world rankings) and Universitat de Barcelona (UB, 166^th in the world rankings) – both within the global top 150 for chemical engineering.

Each claiming three of the world’s best chemical engineering schools are France, the Netherlands and Sweden. Of these, the Dutch Delft University of Technology (86^th in the world rankings) is the only school featured in the top 50 (14^th), while the Eindhoven University of Technology (147^th in the world rankings), the Swedish KTH, Royal Institute of Technology (110^th in the world rankings) and Chalmers University of Technology (175^th in the world rankings) all rank in the 51-100 range. France’s top offering is the Université de Strasbourg (226^th in the world rankings) at 101-150.

Belgium, Ireland, Portugal and Switzerland meanwhile all offer two top chemical engineering schools. Both Swiss offerings are within the world’s top 50 – ETH Zurich (12^th in the world rankings) and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, 17^th in the world rankings). Belgium’s KU Leuven (82^nd in the world rankings) makes the top 100, and both Ireland’s University College Dublin (UCD, 139^th in the world rankings) and Portugal’s University of Porto (293^rd in the world rankings) make the top 150.

Sweden’s fellow Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland and Norway, each have one representative; the Technical University of Denmark (123^rd in the world rankings) makes the top 50, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (246^th in the world rankings) ranks 101-150, and the Finnish Aalto University (187^th in the world rankings) is placed 151-200.

Finally, Austria and Greece both offer entrant in the chemical engineering ranking –Technische Universität Wien (246^th in the world rankings) and the National Technical University of Athens (441-450 in the world rankings) respectively.

Learn more about studying in Europe with our country guides.

Top chemical engineering schools in Asia

While China only offers one representative within the top 50 – Tsinghua University (47^th in the world rankings) – 12 more Chinese institutions are featured in the ranking, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University (104^th in the world rankings), Tianjin University (501-550 in the world rankings) and Zhejiang University (144^th in the world rankings) within the top 100.

Japan and South Korea each claim 10 of the world’s best chemical engineering schools. Japan’s University of Tokyo and Kyoto University both make the top 10 (see above), and are joined in the top 50 by Tokyo Institute of Technology (68^th in the world rankings), Osaka University (55^th in the world rankings) and Tohuku University (71^st in the world rankings). This top quarter of the ranking also features South Korea’s KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (51^st in the world rankings), Seoul National University (SNU, 31^st in the world rankings), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH, 86^th in the world rankings), Korea University (116^th in the world rankings) and Sungkyunkwan University (140^th in the world rankings).

Each with seven universities featured are India and Taiwan. While India’s IIT Bombay (IITB, 222^nd in the world rankings) and IIT Delhi (IITD, 235^th in the world rankings) make the top 100, Taiwan’s National Taiwan University (NTU, 76^th in the world rankings) and National Tsing Hua University (167^th in the world rankings) are within the top 50.

Of the six leading chemical engineering universities in Malaysia, three feature among the world’s top 100 – Universiti Malaya (UM, 151^st in the world rankings), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM, 309^th in the world rankings) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (294^th in the world rankings).

Meanwhile Hong Kong has four entrants, including Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST, 40^th in the world rankings) within the top 50, followed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, 46^th in the world rankings) and the University of Hong Kong (28^th in the world rankings) within the top 100.

In addition to Singapore’s NUS in 5^th place, Nanyang Technological University (NTU, 39^th in the world rankings) also ranks in the top 50. And finally for this region, Thailand has one school ranked at 51-100: Chulalongkorn University (243^rd in the world rankings).

Read our country guides to learn more about studying abroad in Asia, or discover more leading universities in the region with the QS University Rankings: Asia.

Top chemical engineering schools in Latin America

Of the eight top universities for chemical engineering in Latin America, Brazil claims half, including Universidade de São Paulo (USP, 132^nd in the world rankings) and Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp, 206^th in the world rankings) in the top 100. Mexico takes two places, with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, 175^th in the world rankings) also in the top 100.

The other Latin American entrants are Argentina’s Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA, 198^th in the world rankings) and Colombia’s Universidad Nacional de Colombia (316^th in the world rankings) both ranked 151-200.

See our full range of Latin American country guides, or discover more leading schools in the region with the QS University Rankings: Latin America.

Top chemical engineering schools in Australia & New Zealand

Australia lays claim to 10 of the world’s best chemical engineering schools, including the University of Melbourne (33^rd in the world rankings), Monash University (70^th in the world rankings), the University of Queensland (UQ, 43^rd in the world rankings) and the University of New South Wales (48^th in the world rankings) all within the top 50 for this subject. Also in the top 100 are Curtin University (331^st in the world rankings) and the University of Sydney (37^th in the world rankings).

New Zealand meanwhile claims two featured institutions – the University of Auckland (92^nd in the world rankings) at 51-100 and the University of Canterbury (242^nd in the world rankings) at 151-200.

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

Top chemical engineering schools in the Middle East

Of the four top chemical engineering universities in the Middle East, threebelong to Saudi Arabia, including King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST, unranked in the world rankings) and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM, 225^th in the world rankings) at 101-150.

The only other Middle Eastern country featured is Israel, with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (190^th in the world rankings) ranked at 101-150.

For more insights into the leading universities in this region, watch out for the forthcoming QS University Rankings: Arab Region, due to be released on 10 June 2015.

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