According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, nearly 250 universities worldwide offer outstanding programs in geophysics. Similar to last year, ETH Zurich continues to hold the top position in this field. The University of Oxford has overtaken the University of Cambridge for second place, though Cambridge remains firmly in the top three. Interestingly, the rest of the top 10 universities are all elite institutions in the United States, reflecting the country’s continued emphasis on research and innovation in earth sciences.The following table lists over 60 globally ranked universities for pursuing geophysics, along with their location.ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology – SwitzerlandUniversity of Oxford – United KingdomHarvard University – United States of AmericaCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) – United States of AmericaMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – United States of AmericaUniversity of Cambridge – United KingdomColumbia University – United States of AmericaUniversity of California, Berkeley (UCB) – United States of AmericaUniversity of Washington – United States of AmericaStanford University – United States of AmericaUniversity of Colorado Boulder – United States of AmericaPrinceton University – United States of AmericaDelft University of Technology – NetherlandsUniversity of Leeds – United KingdomPeking University – China (Mainland)The University of Tokyo – JapanUtrecht University – NetherlandsTsinghua University – China (Mainland)Wuhan University – China (Mainland)Imperial College London – United KingdomUniversity of California, San Diego (UCSD) – United States of AmericaThe Australian National University – AustraliaUniversité Grenoble Alpes – FranceUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) – United States of AmericaNanjing University – China (Mainland)UCL – United KingdomSorbonne University – FranceUniversity of Texas at Austin – United States of AmericaUniversity of British Columbia – CanadaUniversity of Toronto – CanadaThe University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) – AustraliaYale University – United States of AmericaThe University of Edinburgh – United KingdomWageningen University & Research – NetherlandsThe University of Melbourne – AustraliaPennsylvania State University – United States of AmericaMcGill University – CanadaUniversity of Bristol – United KingdomTexas A&M University – United States of AmericaUniversity of Maryland, College Park – United States of AmericaCornell University – United States of AmericaCurtin University – AustraliaNanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) – SingaporeUniversité PSL – FranceColorado State University – United States of AmericaThe University of Hong Kong – Hong Kong SAR, ChinaThe University of Queensland – AustraliaThe University of Arizona – United States of AmericaUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences – China (Mainland)Arizona State University – United States of AmericaBeijing Normal University – China (Mainland)China University of Geosciences – China (Mainland)Christian-Albrechts-University zu Kiel – GermanyDurham University – United KingdomEPFL – SwitzerlandGeorgia Institute of Technology – United States of AmericaGhent University – BelgiumJohns Hopkins University – United States of AmericaKIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology – GermanyKU Leuven – BelgiumKyoto University – JapanLudwig-Maximilians-Universität München – GermanyLund University – SwedenMonash University – AustraliaNewcastle University – United KingdomSeoul National University – Republic of KoreaStockholm University – SwedenSun Yat-sen University – China (Mainland)Technical University of Denmark – DenmarkOverall, the above-mentioned rankings display the global universities in geophysics education and research. Whether in Europe or the United States, students who aspire to pursue a career related to the understanding of the processes that shape the Earth can refer to these rankings to know about some excellent programs at these prestigious universities. If you choose your university from this list, you can expect not only a strong academic experience, but also gain access to potential future career opportunities across the globe.
