University of KwaZulu-Natal: Rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 5 in South Africa, 598 in the global 2026 rating, and scored in the TOP 1-3 across multiple research topics. The ranking is based on 3 factors: research output (EliteDegrees's index has 68,716 academic publications and 1,567,643 citations attributed to the university), non-academic reputation, and the impact of notable alumni.
| Position | Category |
|---|---|
| # 598 of 14,131 | In the World |
| # 6 of 1,104 | In Africa |
| # 5 of 26 | In South Africa |
| # 206 of 5,013 | For Economics |
| # 290 of 6,463 | For Environmental Science |
| # 386 of 6,308 | For Biology |
| Top 1-3 | For 12 other topics |
Jump to topical rankings below
Biology rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 386 in the World with 42,702 publications made and 1,066,259 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Biology Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horticulture | #1 | #1 | #82 |
| Forestry | #2 | #2 | #86 |
| Ethics | #3 | #4 | #86 |
| Botany | #1 | #1 | #131 |
| Virology | #3 | #3 | #140 |
| Zoology | #4 | #4 | #157 |
| Animal Science | #4 | #8 | #224 |
| Microbiology | #5 | #6 | #260 |
| Entomology | #6 | #7 | #283 |
| Wildlife and Fisheries Management | #4 | #4 | #307 |
| Paleontology | #5 | #5 | #318 |
| Toxicology | #4 | #23 | #361 |
| Biotechnology | #2 | #3 | #361 |
| Immunology | #3 | #4 | #388 |
| Pharmacology | #2 | #9 | #442 |
| Bioinformatics / Computational biology | #4 | #5 | #494 |
| Genetics | #5 | #6 | #513 |
| Evolutionary | #5 | #5 | #518 |
| Biochemistry | #3 | #4 | #537 |
| Neuroscience | #5 | #7 | #717 |
| Oncology | #5 | #14 | #727 |
| Astrobiology | #6 | #11 | #822 |
| Nanotechnology | #5 | #10 | #827 |
| Molecular | #5 | #6 | #844 |
| Biophysics | #4 | #4 | #911 |
| Agricultural Science | #1 | #1 | #91 |
Environmental Science rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 290 in the World with 34,928 publications made and 830,781 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Environmental Science Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrology and Water resources | #1 | #3 | #54 |
| Forestry | #2 | #2 | #86 |
| Ecology | #3 | #3 | #203 |
| Environmental Engineering | #2 | #2 | #246 |
| Environmental Management | #5 | #6 | #262 |
| Wildlife and Fisheries Management | #4 | #4 | #307 |
| Paleontology | #5 | #5 | #318 |
| Geology | #5 | #5 | #355 |
| Oceanography | #2 | #2 | #396 |
| Earth science and Geoscience | #4 | #4 | #505 |
Liberal Arts & Social Sciences rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 398 in the World with 34,610 publications made and 718,701 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender Studies | #2 | #2 | #77 |
| Anthropology | #4 | #4 | #180 |
| Demography | #3 | #3 | #187 |
| Social Work | #4 | #4 | #219 |
| Sociology | #3 | #3 | #225 |
| Education | #4 | #4 | #227 |
| International Law | #8 | #8 | #229 |
| Genealogy | #4 | #4 | #255 |
| Forensic Science | #5 | #5 | #266 |
| History | #5 | #5 | #287 |
| Archaeology | #5 | #5 | #290 |
| Law | #5 | #5 | #294 |
| Aesthetics | #6 | #6 | #327 |
| Media Studies | #5 | #5 | #342 |
| Political Science | #5 | #5 | #356 |
| Publishing | #7 | #7 | #367 |
| Broadcast Journalism | #6 | #9 | #477 |
| Linguistics | #5 | #5 | #492 |
| Special Education | #8 | #9 | #647 |
| Philosophy | #6 | #6 | #677 |
| Human Rights Law | #6 | #6 | #97 |
Medicine rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 392 in the World with 32,873 publications made and 811,646 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Medicine Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optometry | #1 | #1 | #58 |
| Ethics | #3 | #4 | #86 |
| Veterinary | #2 | #6 | #128 |
| Virology | #3 | #3 | #140 |
| Healthcare Administration | #3 | #3 | #147 |
| Pediatrics | #4 | #4 | #176 |
| Nursing | #3 | #3 | #199 |
| Epidemiology | #4 | #7 | #212 |
| Social Work | #4 | #4 | #219 |
| Paramedicine and Emergency | #3 | #3 | #241 |
| Health Science | #4 | #4 | #263 |
| Forensic Science | #5 | #5 | #266 |
| Cosmetology | #2 | #9 | #292 |
| Pharmacy | #1 | #5 | #301 |
| Neurosurgery | #2 | #6 | #330 |
| Occupational Therapy | #4 | #5 | #351 |
| Toxicology | #4 | #23 | #361 |
| Obstetrics and Gynecology | #4 | #6 | #365 |
| Immunology | #3 | #4 | #388 |
| Pathology | #4 | #5 | #395 |
| Ophthalmology | #2 | #5 | #406 |
| Gerontology | #3 | #3 | #423 |
| Pharmacology | #2 | #9 | #442 |
| Anesthesiology | #4 | #9 | #451 |
| Surgery | #4 | #8 | #459 |
| Dermatology | #5 | #12 | #469 |
| Psychiatry | #4 | #6 | #472 |
| Radiology | #4 | #8 | #557 |
| Orthodontics | #5 | #13 | #577 |
| Clinical Psychology | #5 | #6 | #592 |
| Dentistry | #6 | #15 | #601 |
| Physical Therapy | #5 | #7 | #607 |
| Cardiology | #4 | #9 | #622 |
| Plastic Surgery | #5 | #15 | #659 |
| Urology | #5 | #17 | #677 |
| Radiation Therapy | #5 | #14 | #686 |
| Oncology | #5 | #14 | #727 |
| Audiology | #5 | #13 | #882 |
| Sports | #6 | #12 | #906 |
| Family medicine | #3 | #3 | #81 |
Chemistry rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 553 in the World with 27,319 publications made and 714,613 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Chemistry Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biochemical Engineering | #2 | #2 | #295 |
| Pharmacy | #1 | #5 | #301 |
| Radiochemistry | #2 | #7 | #307 |
| Biochemistry | #3 | #4 | #537 |
| Organic chemistry | #2 | #5 | #562 |
| Computational | #2 | #6 | #583 |
| Physical | #3 | #7 | #641 |
| Nanotechnology | #5 | #10 | #827 |
Engineering rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 579 in the World with 25,924 publications made and 682,785 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Engineering Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote Sensing | #1 | #1 | #221 |
| Environmental Engineering | #2 | #2 | #246 |
| Biochemical Engineering | #2 | #2 | #295 |
| Biotechnology | #2 | #3 | #361 |
| Renewable Energy | #7 | #18 | #475 |
| Automation and Control | #2 | #5 | #502 |
| Telecommunications | #4 | #5 | #592 |
| Optics | #4 | #6 | #664 |
| Systems | #6 | #7 | #682 |
| Aviation | #8 | #9 | #750 |
| Metallurgy | #6 | #13 | #777 |
| Construction Management | #8 | #23 | #778 |
| Engineering Management | #8 | #12 | #813 |
| Nanotechnology | #5 | #10 | #827 |
| Operations Research | #4 | #12 | #853 |
| Robotics | #2 | #5 | #865 |
| Reliability and Quality | #8 | #18 | #927 |
| Architecture | #6 | #25 | #963 |
| Applied Physics | #5 | #18 | #983 |
| Computer Engineering | #6 | #27 | #1321 |
Physics rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 548 in the World with 23,896 publications made and 630,885 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Physics Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theoretical | #2 | #2 | #252 |
| Molecular | #2 | #2 | #541 |
| Optics | #4 | #6 | #664 |
| Astrobiology | #6 | #11 | #822 |
| Nanotechnology | #5 | #10 | #827 |
| Biophysics | #4 | #4 | #911 |
| Condensed Matter | #5 | #16 | #961 |
| Applied Physics | #5 | #18 | #983 |
Computer Science rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 577 in the World with 20,388 publications made and 487,053 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Computer Science Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information Technology | #3 | #3 | #147 |
| Machine Learning | #2 | #3 | #490 |
| Bioinformatics / Computational biology | #4 | #5 | #494 |
| Management Information Systems (MIS) | #7 | #7 | #520 |
| Data Science | #7 | #8 | #584 |
| Telecommunications | #4 | #5 | #592 |
| Software Engineering | #4 | #6 | #598 |
| Multimedia | #4 | #4 | #618 |
| Neuroscience | #5 | #7 | #717 |
| Computer Vision | #3 | #7 | #735 |
| Cognitive Science | #5 | #9 | #778 |
| Robotics | #2 | #5 | #865 |
| Animation | #5 | #7 | #882 |
| Computational Linguistics | #8 | #16 | #938 |
| Cryptography and Distributed computing | #4 | #32 | #1258 |
| Computer Engineering | #6 | #27 | #1321 |
Psychology rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 440 in the World with 15,493 publications made and 314,342 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Psychology Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human Sexuality | #1 | #1 | #96 |
| Social Work | #4 | #4 | #219 |
| Education | #4 | #4 | #227 |
| Occupational Therapy | #4 | #5 | #351 |
| Psychiatry | #4 | #6 | #472 |
| Clinical Psychology | #5 | #6 | #592 |
| Special Education | #8 | #9 | #647 |
| Neuroscience | #5 | #7 | #717 |
| Cognitive Science | #5 | #9 | #778 |
Economics rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 206 in the World with 13,529 publications made and 256,466 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Economics Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | #7 | #7 | #394 |
| International Trade | #8 | #9 | #546 |
| Actuarial Science | #7 | #11 | #564 |
| Econometrics | #7 | #10 | #659 |
| Agricultural Economics | #2 | #5 | #87 |
Mathematics rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 461 in the World with 12,509 publications made and 296,844 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Mathematics Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics Education | #4 | #4 | #285 |
| Applied Mathematics | #2 | #4 | #329 |
| Statistics | #5 | #6 | #502 |
| Actuarial Science | #7 | #11 | #564 |
| Econometrics | #7 | #10 | #659 |
| Operations Research | #4 | #12 | #853 |
| Cryptography and Distributed computing | #4 | #32 | #1258 |
Business rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 464 in the World with 10,861 publications made and 172,873 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Business Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneurship | #5 | #5 | #213 |
| Finance | #7 | #7 | #394 |
| Accounting | #6 | #8 | #401 |
| Marketing | #8 | #8 | #437 |
| Management Information Systems (MIS) | #7 | #7 | #520 |
| Risk Management | #7 | #10 | #522 |
| International Trade | #8 | #9 | #546 |
| Actuarial Science | #7 | #11 | #564 |
| Management | #7 | #9 | #601 |
| Advertising | #8 | #8 | #628 |
| Construction Management | #8 | #23 | #778 |
| Project Management | #8 | #11 | #781 |
| Engineering Management | #8 | #12 | #813 |
| Operations Research | #4 | #12 | #853 |
| Real Estate | #8 | #24 | #887 |
Art & Design rankings
University of KwaZulu-Natal ranked 423 in the World with 4,983 publications made and 68,795 citations received.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Art & Design Subfield Rankings
| Field | Nat. | Cont. | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative Writing | #6 | #6 | #218 |
| Acting and Drama | #4 | #4 | #323 |
| Aesthetics | #6 | #6 | #327 |
| Literature | #6 | #6 | #342 |
| Cinematography | #3 | #3 | #361 |
| Photography | #5 | #7 | #410 |
| Multimedia | #4 | #4 | #618 |
| Music | #7 | #9 | #684 |
| Graphic Design | #8 | #11 | #735 |
| Animation | #5 | #7 | #882 |
| Sculpture | #8 | #17 | #896 |
| Architecture | #6 | #25 | #963 |
