Rome beats Oxford for top place in world rankings.

La Sapienza University in Rome has been ranked the top university in the world for Classical Studies and Ancient History in the 2021 edition of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.

The result, which reconfirms rankings held in 2018 and 2019, sees Rome knock Oxford off the podium and also makes La Sapienza the only Italian university to boast an absolute first place at an international level.

The Rome university also came 10th in Archaeology (first in Italy) in the 11th edition of the annual list compiled by the London-based global higher education analysts.

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"This brilliant result, the result of commitment and passion, fits into the tradition of excellence in the field of classical studies of our university, with innovative courses entirely in English, spaces for studying between statues and decorative friezes in the reading areas of the Museum of Classical Art, but also cultural initiatives such as those related to the Theatron Project in which students adapt and stage Greek and Latin texts," explains the rector Antonella Polimeni.

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In the 51 subject categories judged by QS, the leading university in Italy is the Politecnico di Milano, with seven of its programmes ranked among the top 50 in the world, with Art and Design in fifth palce and Architecture in 10th.

Rector Ferruccio Resta weclomed the result, which confirms a "position of excellence," however he said it was time to take "a step forward," after covid-19 confronted the Politecnico with "choices that will change the future of the university." Resta identified the changes as "digital, international collaboration, new teaching and research methods."

Università Bocconi in Milan is ranked seventh in Business and Management, 14th in Accounting and Finance and 18th in Economics and Econometrics.

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The QS report contained more good news for Italy. Scopus - the scientific database created by the Elsevier publishing house and used by QS to calculate the scientific research production of universities - places Italy as one of the five best nations in the world for producing scientific research related to covid-19.

The 2021 list is topped by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by Harvard, with Stanford in third place. For full rankings see QS website while for details about the success of La Sapienza see university website.