The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, resp. "Shanghai Ranking") is a global university ranking that has been released since 2003 and is published by the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy. Since 2009, the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy has published the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS).

In the current Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023 the University of Cologne is ranked place 6-9 nationally and place 151-200 internationally.

Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS)

More than 1900 universities are ranked in five different disciplines and in 55 subjects. Depending on the subject, between 200 and 500 universities are ranked each year.

Current Results GRAS Ranking 2023:
- "Sociology" ranked 1^st place nationally and 43^rd place internationally.
- "Management" ranked 3^rd place nationally (with Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, the University of Hamburg, Mannheim University and the University of Munich), ranked place 201-300 internationally.
- "Business Administration" ranked 4^th place nationally (with Leuphana University Lüneburg, the University Erlangen-Nürnberg, the University of Hamburg and the University of Munich), ranked place 201-300 internationally.
- "Political Sciences" ranked on 5^th place nationally (with Humboldt-University Berlin, the TU Munich and the University of Mainz), ranked place 101-150 internationally.
- "Economics" ranked 5^th place nationally (with Goethe University of Frankfurt, the Humboldt-University Berlin and the Technical University of Munich), ranked place 151-200 internationally.
- "Communication" ranked 17^th place nationally (with University of Jena, University of Konstanz and the University of Tübingen), ranked place 201-300 internationally.

Indicators and weighting

The GRAS uses four to five indicators, depending on the subject. It measures and compares research output (Q1), the scope of the research, mapped by citations (CNCI), international cooperation (IC), research quality (number of publications in TOP journals) and the prestige of researchers (TOP awards).

More information on the Website of the: Academic Ranking of World Universities