Social Sciences at TCD Ranked Amongst World Leaders
Posted on: 08 July 2011
Trinity College Dublin has been named amongst the leading universities in the world in the latest QS World University Rankings for Social Sciences featuring in the top 100 for each of the listed disciplines.
The rankings place TCD as the only Irish university to make it into the top 50 for both Sociology, and Politics and International Studies, ranking them 48th and 50th in the world respectively. Sociology was also ranked 11th, and Politics and International Studies 15th in Europe, further highlighting the College’s international reputation for excellence in scholarship and research. Trinity also scored highly in the Accounting and Finance category where it was the only Irish institution to feature in the top 100. The School of Law and the discipline of Economics also made the top 100 list.
Trinity’s School of Social Sciences and Philosophy comprises the departments of Economics, Political Science, Philosophy and Sociology. Trinity’s Department of Philosophy was ranked in the top 100 in the recently released QS Arts and Humanities rankings. Head of the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, Professor James Wickham commented: “Ireland’s problems are economic, but also political, social and even moral. These international rankings show how the School is a potential resource for the country in our current crisis.”
Commenting on the significance of the achievement, Head of the Department of Sociology, Dr Ronit Lentin said: “We are very pleased to be ranked among the top 50 departments of Sociology worldwide. We are particularly proud of our research record in the areas of migration, employment, conflict and globalisation, and of the high rate of employment for the graduates of both our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.”
Speaking about the rankings Professor of Comparative Politics and Head of the Department of Political Science, Michael Gallagher said: “The Department of Political Science is committed to excellence in teaching and research, and it will continue to strive to achieve the highest standards in its training of undergraduate and postgraduate students, its research output, and its contribution to Irish society.”
Acting Head of the Law School, Professor Ivana Bacik, said: “Amid intense international competition, we in the Trinity Law School are particularly pleased to be ranked in the top 100 law schools worldwide – this achievement is a measure of the high levels of commitment and scholarly dedication shown by our relatively small numbers of staff.”
The QS World University rankings for Social Sciences cover the following disciplines: Sociology; Politics and International Studies; Law; Economics and Econometrics; Accounting and Finance; and Statistics and Operational Research.
2011 marks the first time QS World University Rankings produced rankings for universities offering arts and humanities degrees. For the purpose of compiling the rankings QS score universities according to a number of criteria which include academic reputation, employer reputation and citations per faculty. Further information on the rankings can be found online.