Times Higher Education rankings highlight Northwestern’s research success

Northwestern University is ranked 11th in the first edition of the Times Higher Education (THE) Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2025, released this week.

Along with preeminent research universities from around the world, Northwestern is recognized for helping to solve the world’s biggest challenges through scientific inquiry that crosses boundaries. Nearly 750 schools from 92 countries participated in this inaugural survey, making it the largest-ever THE initial ranking.

“Northwestern’s research success is built on cross-field collaboration with many examples from across the University, including those supported by our exceptional interdisciplinary research institutes and centers,” said Vice President for Research Eric Perreault. “From longstanding leaders like the Institute for Policy Research and the Materials Research Center, which have been advancing discovery for decades, to newer innovation hubs such as the Center for Synthetic Biology. These centers bring together talent from across our schools.

Our interdisciplinary ecosystem empowers faculty and students to think boldly and tackle complex challenges with creativity.”

“Our interdisciplinary ecosystem empowers faculty and students to think boldly and tackle complex challenges with creativity. This recognition from Times Higher Education underscores the enduring impact of our boundary-pushing approach.”

In association with Schmidt Science Fellows, the THE Interdisciplinary Science Rankings (ISR) was created to recognize, incentivize and celebrate interdisciplinary science in higher education across the globe. Its aim is to improve scientific excellence and collaboration across disciplines and help universities benchmark their interdisciplinary scientific work.

The methodology used to rank universities measures performance in three areas: inputs (funding); process (measures of success, facilities, administrative support and promotion); and outputs (publications, research quality and reputation).

According to THE, earlier in 2024, THE launched a survey asking experienced, published academics across the world for their views about their own research and their institutions’ interdisciplinary research in science subjects. It also asked them to name up to five institutions that they believed were the best in supporting interdisciplinary research between science subjects. Some of the results of this survey have been used to partially inform the outputs pillar of the ISR. The ranking also draws on institutional data provided directly by universities, as well as bibliometric data.

Explore the top-ranked universities for interdisciplinary science research according to Times Higher Education.