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Best universities for life sciences degrees 2024

Find the best universities for life sciences using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024 data

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October 26 2023
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Top 10 universities in the world for life sciences degrees 2024

Scroll down for the full list of the best universities in world for life sciences degrees.

 Life sciences Rank 2024   Life sciences rank 2023  University Country/region
 1   1  Harvard University United States
 2   2  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 3   4  University of Oxford United Kingdom
 4   5  Stanford University United States
 5   3  Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
 6   7  Yale University United States
 7   8  Princeton University United States
 8   10  Johns Hopkins University United States
 9   9  University of California, Berkeley United States
 10   14  Imperial College London United Kingdom

If you’re choosing where to study pharmacy, biochemistry, zoology or other related subjects, Times Higher Education’s ranking for life sciences can help you find the best universities in the world for your degree.

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The top colleges for life sciences are concentrated in the US and the UK: 190 of the 1,059 universities in the THE ranking for life sciences are in these two countries. Other countries that are well represented in this ranking include China, Japan and Germany. 

Older prestigious institutions take the top spots, with Harvard University taking first place, closely followed by the University of Cambridge. 

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Life sciences covers a range of subjects, from forestry to biotechnology. A full list of the degrees included and what you can do with them appears below.

Graduates of life sciences degrees go on to work in a variety of fields including teaching, research, law and finance.  Many jobs directly use life science research and knowledge, such as roles in pharmaceutical companies, environmental work and forensic science.

The life sciences ranking assesses universities using 18 indicators of excellence that evaluate teaching, research, research influence and international outlook. The full methodology can be found here.

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Best universities for life sciences degrees in the US
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Top five universities for life sciences degrees

5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Many academic departments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offer courses in life sciences subjects to contribute towards a major or minor degree subject.

Courses range from biological engineering – a discipline that combines principles of engineering and biological systems – to “science, technology and society”, which offers a more comprehensive overview of life sciences and its applications.

The university offers undergraduate and postgraduate life sciences degrees. Although an undergraduate major in a life sciences subject is excellent preparation for many jobs, further study in health sciences or engineering is a common post-graduation option.

Many life sciences graduates will continue on to medical school. Other career paths suggested by the School of Life Sciences are finance, intellectual property law and forensics.

4. Stanford University

Stanford University is particularly renowned for science and innovation, and university researchers, students and alumni contribute significantly to technological development in Silicon Valley, which is located right near the university.

Stanford’s department of biology leads the way for life sciences research, while the bioengineering department creates a fusion of engineering and life sciences by inventing new technologies.

The biology department offers courses in biochemistry, biophysics, computational biology, conservational biology and many other subdisciplines.

Many Stanford alumni have won prestigious accolades, such as Nobel prizes, Rhodes scholarships and Turing awards.

Of the more than 15,000 students, more than 20 per cent are international.

3. University of Oxford

Life sciences degrees at the University of Oxford are spread across a number of specialised departments within both the science and the clinical divisions of the university.

Many world-leading academics work at the university. Richard Dawkins, the famous evolutionary biologist, is affiliated to the university and can often be seen around town or at public events.

Oxford students each belong to a college, where they live, eat and attend small-group tutorials with teachers. Postgraduate students are more likely to live off campus and will not necessarily be taught within their colleges.

Life sciences courses available at the University of Oxford include biology and earth sciences. 

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2. University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge’s School of Biological Sciences contains nine departments and various research centres, including the departments of biochemistry, pharmacology and zoology.

There is also a Graduate School of Life Sciences, which is responsible for master’s degrees and doctorates.

Four major undergraduate programmes in life sciences are offered: biological sciences as a natural science specialism, a pre-clinical veterinary science programme, a psychological and behavioural sciences programme, and medical science.

Students have close interaction with teachers through the tutorial system and are automatically members of their college communities, where they eat meals, live in college-owned buildings and attend recreational activities.

Charles Darwin, perhaps the most famous life scientist of them all, was an alumnus of Christ’s College, Cambridge, and many other prominent biologists have studied or taught at the university.

1. Harvard University

As is the case at many US colleges, undergraduates at Harvard University have the opportunity to take a variety of different courses before declaring a major subject.

Within life sciences, there are many interdisciplinary foundational courses grouped in nine concentrations to help students “explore the diversity of living systems”. The majors include biomedical engineering, neurobiology and human evolutionary biology.

According to the university, life sciences graduates often go on to postgraduate work, including medical or scientific research. Other graduates have pursued careers in business, consulting and environmental advocacy.

Harvard is perhaps the world’s best-known university; it regularly takes the top spot in global reputation surveys. It has built its reputation, wealth and influence over more than 400 years, having been founded in 1636.

Although tuition is expensive, students from low-income families are fully supported by university grants.

Best universities for life sciences 2024

Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2024 profile.

 Life sciences Rank 2024   Life sciences rank 2023  University Country/region
 1   1  Harvard University United States
 2   2  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 3   4  University of Oxford United Kingdom
 4   5  Stanford University United States
 5   3  Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
 6   7  Yale University United States
 7   8  Princeton University United States
 8   10  Johns Hopkins University United States
 9   9  University of California, Berkeley United States
 10   14  Imperial College London United Kingdom
 11   6  California Institute of Technology United States
 =12   18  Peking University China
 =12   11  Tsinghua University China
 14   12  Columbia University United States
 =15   19  Cornell University United States
 =15   13  ETH Zurich Switzerland
 17   21  University of Pennsylvania United States
 18   17  The University of Chicago United States
 19   20  Wageningen University & Research Netherlands
 20   22  UCL United Kingdom
 21   16  University of Washington United States
 22   23  National University of Singapore Singapore
 23   =24  University of California, Los Angeles United States
 24   15  University of California, San Diego United States
 25   26  Duke University United States
 26   28  University of California, Davis United States
 27   =24  University of Toronto Canada
 28   29  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
 29   30  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
 30   38  The University of Tokyo Japan
 31   31  Karolinska Institute Sweden
 32   27  Universität Heidelberg Germany
 =33   =33  University of British Columbia Canada
 =33   35  Technical University of Munich Germany
 35   39  King’s College London United Kingdom
 36   37  University of Melbourne Australia
 37   36  Washington University in St Louis United States
 38   32  The University of Queensland Australia
 39   40  New York University United States
 40   =43  Kyoto University Japan
 41   =33  LMU Munich Germany
 42   42  Fudan University China
 43   41  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =44   =49  McGill University Canada
 =44   =49  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
 =46   =47  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
 =46   46  University of Sydney Australia
 =48   =47  Ghent University Belgium
 =48   67  Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
 50   =49  Northwestern University United States
 51   =43  University of Göttingen Germany
 52   64  Zhejiang University China
 53   52  Uppsala University Sweden
 =54   55  KU Leuven Belgium
 =54   61  University of Manchester United Kingdom
 56   45  École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
 57   =57  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
 58   =57  University of Tübingen Germany
 59   54  Monash University Australia
 60   56  Sorbonne University France
 61   60  Australian National University Australia
 62   =71  Université Paris-Saclay France
 63   65  University of Zurich Switzerland
 64   68  Seoul National University South Korea
 =65   62  University of Freiburg Germany
 =65   =69  University of Minnesota United States
 67   66  Emory University United States
 =68   =86  Aarhus University Denmark
 =68   =100  Osaka University Japan
 70   78  University of Massachusetts United States
 71   =83  Lund University Sweden
 =72   75  Boston University United States
 =72   =90  University of Florida United States
 =72   =71  Vanderbilt University United States
 75   =69  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
 76   74  University of Science and Technology of China China
 =77   92  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =77   =76  University of Helsinki Finland
 79   53  Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris France
 80   =88  University of Southern California United States
 81   =88  University of Glasgow United Kingdom
 82   =76  Free University of Berlin Germany
 83   =57  Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
 =84   126–150  Purdue University West Lafayette United States
 =84   93  UNSW Sydney Australia
 =86   79  University of Basel Switzerland
 =86   =86  University of Bonn Germany
 =86   =90  University of Bristol United Kingdom
 89   81  The University of Western Australia Australia
 90   126–150  Nanjing University China
 91   101–125  University of Amsterdam Netherlands
 92   97  Trinity College Dublin Ireland
 93   101–125  Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
 94   =98  University of Lausanne Switzerland
 95   101–125  University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States
 96   =98  Michigan State University United States
 97   126–150  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
 98   =83  Stockholm University Sweden
 =99   101–125  City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =99   94  University of Vienna Austria
 101–125   101–125  University of Aberdeen United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  University of Adelaide Australia
 101–125   126–150  University of Alberta Canada
 101–125   101–125  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  Brown University United States
 101–125   101–125  University of California, Irvine United States
 101–125   73  University of California, Santa Barbara United States
 101–125   151–175  University of Cape Town South Africa
 101–125   101–125  University of Cologne Germany
 101–125   101–125  Dartmouth College United States
 101–125   =95  University of Dundee United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  University of Exeter United Kingdom
 101–125   =100  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong
 101–125   101–125  University of Leeds United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  McMaster University Canada
 101–125   101–125  Newcastle University United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  Sichuan University China
 101–125   126–150  Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Sweden
 101–125   101–125  University of Tasmania Australia
 101–125   101–125  Technical University of Denmark Denmark
 101–125   126–150  Texas A&M University United States
 101–125   101–125  University of Texas at Austin United States
 101–125   151–175  Tohoku University Japan
 101–125   126–150  Wuhan University China
 101–125   =95  University of Würzburg Germany
 126–150   151–175  University of Barcelona Spain
 126–150   151–175  University of Bern Switzerland
 126–150   101–125  University of California, Riverside United States
 126–150   =100  University of California, Santa Cruz United States
 126–150   126–150  Cardiff University United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  University of East Anglia United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  Friedrich Schiller University Jena Germany
 126–150   126–150  University of Geneva Switzerland
 126–150   176–200  Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
 126–150   176–200  University of Guelph Canada
 126–150   176–200  Hokkaido University Japan
 126–150   151–175  Montpellier University France
 126–150   176–200  University of Montreal Canada
 126–150   151–175  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
 126–150   126–150  University of Oslo Norway
 126–150   101–125  Université Paris Cité France
 126–150   126–150  Penn State (Main campus) United States
 126–150   80  Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) South Korea
 126–150   151–175  Queen’s University Belfast United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
 126–150   151–175  University of São Paulo Brazil
 126–150   126–150  University of Southampton United Kingdom
 126–150   151–175  University of St Andrews United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  TU Dresden Germany
 151–175   151–175  University of Antwerp Belgium
 151–175   151–175  University of Auckland New Zealand
 151–175   176–200  Autonomous University of Barcelona Spain
 151–175   176–200  University of Bergen Norway
 151–175   126–150  University of Colorado Boulder United States
 151–175   151–175  Delft University of Technology Netherlands
 151–175   201–250  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
 151–175   176–200  University of Gothenburg Sweden
 151–175   151–175  University of Hamburg Germany
 151–175   126–150  Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong
 151–175   201–250  Huazhong University of Science and Technology China
 151–175   =83  Institut Polytechnique de Paris France
 151–175   126–150  James Cook University Australia
 151–175   151–175  University of Konstanz Germany
 151–175   251–300  Kyushu University Japan
 151–175   176–200  University of Liverpool United Kingdom
 151–175   NR  Macquarie University Australia
 151–175   251–300  Nagoya University Japan
 151–175   176–200  National Taiwan University (NTU) Taiwan
 151–175   126–150  University of Reading United Kingdom
 151–175   126–150  Rice University United States
 151–175   126–150  Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) China
 151–175   151–175  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
 151–175   176–200  University of York United Kingdom
 176–200   176–200  University of Arizona United States
 176–200   176–200  Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
 176–200   251–300  Beijing Normal University China
 176–200   126–150  University of Bremen Germany
 176–200   151–175  Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
 176–200   201–250  Griffith University Australia
 176–200   176–200  University of Hawai’i at Mānoa United States
 176–200   151–175  Iowa State University United States
 176–200   101–125  King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia
 176–200   201–250  La Trobe University Australia
 176–200   201–250  Université Laval Canada
 176–200   201–250  University of Leicester United Kingdom
 176–200   176–200  Université Libre de Bruxelles Belgium
 176–200   151–175  University of Maryland, College Park United States
 176–200   201–250  University of Ottawa Canada
 176–200   176–200  Queensland University of Technology Australia
 176–200   201–250  University of Rochester United States
 176–200   251–300  Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) South Korea
 176–200   151–175  University of Tartu Estonia
 176–200   151–175  University of Technology Sydney Australia
 176–200   201–250  Tel Aviv University Israel
 176–200   201–250  Ulm University Germany
 176–200   201–250  University of Virginia (Main campus) United States
 176–200   176–200  Vrije Universiteit Brussel Belgium

Editor’s note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

 

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