QS Ranking confirms strong research impact and growing international visibility
The latest QS World University Ranking places FAU in the top 15 percent of universities worldwide. The university holds 218th place globally, climbing 14 places compared to the previous year. Nationally, FAU has also advanced, rising to 12th place among German universities (up from 14th in 2025).
FAU performs particularly well in research visibility, achieving first place in Germany for “Citations per researcher” and 66th place internationally in the same category.
The university also excelled in other key indicators:
Nationally, FAU now ranks among Germany’s top ten universities in employer reputation, rising from 13th to 10th place. The university has also made progress in sustainability (up from 14th to 12th place) and international research network (from 23rd to 20th place).
Internationally, FAU has made a significant leap in employer reputation from 290th place to 213th place. The university has also improved in sustainability, from 228th to 201st place, and in academic reputation, climbing from 316th to 303rd place.
Ranking methodology
For the QS World University Ranking, eleven individual indicators are combined into an overall score. The areas considered include reputation (45 percent), research performance (20 percent), teaching (10 percent), internationalization (15 percent), labor market success (5 percent), and sustainability (5 percent). Reputation scores are based on global surveys of academics and employers. Bibliometric indicators are taken from the Scopus database, while additional statistical data is provided by the universities themselves.
In the current World University Ranking by Subject, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) analyzed more than 8,800 universities from 106 countries. A total of 1,504 universities were included in the final evaluation, among them 60 from Germany.
Further information
FAU Press Office
presse@fau.de