Since its participation in the CAS Experimental Program of Knowledge Innovation, USTC has achieved a batch of important and innovative results in the basic research of nano science and technology,
quantum information science, life science research, fire science, and fire protection technology, polar scientific investigation and research, bio-mass clean energy research.
Rankings and reputation General rankings USTC is generally considered one of the most competitive universities in the country, and consistently ranked among the top universities in Asia according to several major international university rankings. The joint
THE-QS World University Rankings 2005 ranked USTC 4th in China (after
Peking,
Tsinghua and
Fudan), 13th in Asia and 93rd in the world. The
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2011 placed USTC 49th in the world, 7th in Asia and 2nd in China after Peking. It ranked 10th in Asia and 4th in
Emerging countries & Mainland China in 2020 by
Times Higher Education. the
Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked USTC #6 in China, #11 in Asia and #51 in the world. The
Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), also known as the "Shanghai Ranking", placed USTC 40th in the world, 6th in Asia, and 5th in China. The 2025
US News Best Global Universities ranked USTC #71 overall in the world, #13 in Asia and #7 in mainland China. USTC is regarded as one of the most reputable Chinese universities by the
Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings where they ranked 51–60th globally. USTC was ranked # 6 in China, # 12 in Asia and #62 worldwide in 2025 in terms of aggregate performance from the four most widely observed university rankings (
THE+
ARWU+
QS+
US News).
Research strength and subject rankings The
Nature Index Research Leaders 2025, which measures the largest groups of papers published in 145 leading high-quality science journals, ranked USTC the No.1 university in China and the Asia-Pacific region, and 2nd in the world among the global universities (after Harvard). In 2025, USTC was ranked 59th globally by the
Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities, with "Natural Science" & "Engineering"-related fields ranked 3rd and 8th, respectively, in the world. In the 2024
ARWU Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, the USTC had seven disciplines in the world's top 20, 17 disciplines in the world's top 50 and 21 disciplines in the world's top 100.
Times Higher Education (THE) Nature Index Nature Index tracks the affiliations of high-quality scientific articles and presents research outputs by institution and country on a monthly basis. ==Laboratories==