National University of Singapore ranked 3rd globally for chemistry

Singapore, ranked the world's second-richest country behind Switzerland by GDP per capita in 2025, has two other universities on the chemistry list.

Nanyang Technological University ranks seventh, while the Singapore University of Technology and Design places 529th.

Chinese universities dominate the top 10, taking seven places. Tsinghua University leads the ranking, followed by the University of Science and Technology of China in second place.

U.S.'s Stanford University, ranked ninth, is the only institution outside Asia in the top 10.

U.S. News world top 10 universities for chemistry

From left Dr Tan Tong-De, Assoc Prof Koh Ming Joo and Wang Yu-Qi from the NUS Department of Chemistry. Photo from the school's website

The U.S. News chemistry ranking, released in June, evaluates universities based on their academic research performance using 11 indicators. A total of 1,613 universities met the eligibility threshold of publishing at least 250 chemistry papers from 2020 to 2024, with 1,500 included in the final ranking.

China's dominance eases further down the list. Between 11th and 20th, China and the U.S. each have four universities, the largest representation among any countries.

The University of Cambridge in the U.K., ranked 20th, is Europe's highest-placed institution.

Beyond chemistry, NUS ranks among the world's top 10 in seven other subjects.

It is first in optics, fifth in both artificial intelligence and materials science, sixth in computer science, eighth in electrical and electronic engineering and engineering, and 10th in physical chemistry.

Overall, it ranks 16th globally and second in Asia in the U.S. News Best Global Universities rankings.