University of Minnesota earns top spot in global Interdisciplinary Science Rankings

Following outstanding performance in several rankings this year, such as the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, the University of Minnesota took the spotlight in the Times Higher Education’s first-ever Interdisciplinary Science Rankings (ISR). Among 749 institutions across 92 countries, the U of M was ranked the top public university worldwide and sixth overall.  

As society’s pressing problems have become more complex in the 21st century, interdisciplinary research has grown tremendously in importance. Specialists in diverse fields must learn to communicate and collaborate effectively outside of their disciplines to provide relevant solutions.

“The greatest challenges impacting our people and our communities can only be solved by working differently — by working across traditional academic siloes. This is where the University of Minnesota truly excels,” said President Rebecca Cunningham. “The U of M is a national leader in interdisciplinary collaboration. Our teams are working across fields to generate new frontiers of knowledge, spark new innovations and discoveries, and find solutions that drive the health and prosperity of our society.”

The ISR measured university performance in three areas: inputs (funding); process (measures of success, facilities, administrative support and promotion); and outputs (publications, research quality and reputation).

“At the University of Minnesota, we have created interdisciplinary centers, institutes and academic programs that incentivize leading scholars, postdocs and students in different fields to work together to tackle complex societal, environmental and industrial challenges,” said Shashank Priya, vice president for Research and Innovation. “Examples include sustainable biomanufacturing methods to produce commonly used products while not leaving behind any permanent waste, rapid biosensing approaches to identify early onset of diseases or contaminations in food products, data sciences and artificial intelligence methods to search for the next therapeutics or semiconductor materials, and applying geodesign approaches and frugal innovation to identify solutions to issues in rural communities.” 

A sample of interdisciplinary initiatives at the University of Minnesota includes:

• Institute for Advanced Study bridges the University and broader community, providing funding for faculty research, interdisciplinary collaborative research and public programming, as well as a range of other support for faculty, staff, students, the general public and community partners. 
• Institute on the Environment (IonE) pursues research-based solutions to the biggest challenges of the 21st century related to climate adaptation, energy, food and land use, freshwater, urban resilience, whole systems and more. IonE educates environmentally knowledgeable leaders, engages partners to find new environmental solutions and recently partnered with several U of M colleges to launch a sustainability leadership graduate program to target the intersection of policy, business and environmental stewardship.
• Institute for Engineering in Medicine improves health care by strengthening collaboration between the disciplines of engineering and medicine, with significant expertise in the design of medical devices, cardiac imaging and physiology, cancer bioengineering, and biological preservation.
• Large Lakes Observatory, located at University of Minnesota Duluth and overlooking Lake Superior, studies the world’s large lakes, including research into aquatic organic and inorganic chemistry, circulation dynamics, acoustic remote sensing, plankton, paleoclimatology and other aspects of these bodies of water.
• Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation advances knowledge of societies and populations across time and space, including economic and demographic behavior, health, well-being, and human-environment interactions.
• International Institute for Biosensing, advances research in the relatively new study of biosensors, which can serve as critical monitors in a broad spectrum of applications, including food safety, agriculture, the environment, healthcare, animal health, national security and water quality.
• Sustainable GeoCommunities program brings together experts from a wide range of disciplines, community leaders, and residents to use geodesign principles to tackle the problems within a given community that could range from lack of clear air or water, to lack of systems for processing the waste.

View the full 2025 Interdisciplinary Science Rankings results and methodology.