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9 1Ãâ·Ñ°æÏ ranked 283rd out of 1,501 institutions in the , placing it in the top 20 per cent globally.

On the national stage, Dal placed 12 out of 29 universities from across Canada.Ìý

The university's overall score rose nine points to 47.2 from 38.2 year over year thanks to improvements across several indicators.ÌýÌý

Learn more below about how the QS ranking works and Dal’s performance globally and in Canada:

How it works

The QS rankings measure performance across five categories — or lenses — broken down into nine key indicators that carry different weights. 

• 'Research and Discovery' lens accounts for 50 per cent of the ranking, with two indicators: Academic Reputation (30 per cent) and Citations per Faculty (20 per cent)

• 'Employability and Outcomes' lens accounts for 20 per cent, with two indicators: Employer Reputation (15 per cent) and Employment Outcomes (5 per cent)

• 'Learning Experience' lens accounts for 10 per cent, with a single indicator: Faculty Student Ratio (10 per cent)

• 'Global Engagement' lens accounts for 15 per cent, with three indicators: International Faculty (5 per cent), International Research Network (5 per cent), International Students (5 per cent)

• '³§³Ü²õ³Ù²¹¾±²Ô²¹²ú¾±±ô¾±³Ù²â' lens accounts for 5 per cent with a single eponymous indicator: Sustainability (5 per cent)

QS assigns a score to institutions for each indicator based on how they scale against the top-performing university, which is assigned a perfect score of 100. This year, that honour went to theÌýMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

These indicator score are then tallied for a university’s final score, which determines the institution’s position in the global ranking.Ìý
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This year’s edition featured improved survey validation and expanded research coverage, enhancing data quality. This led to some shifts in the way institutions scored on indicators.ÌýÌý

How Dal stacked up

With this methodology in mind, here’s how 9 1Ãâ·Ñ°æÏ performed across some key indicators.

The university’s biggest improvement was in Citations per Faculty, where its score rose 42 per cent to 76.2 from 53.5 — prompting a 68-spot jump globally to 171. The indicator provides an estimate of the impact and quality of the scientific work produced by an institution.The 2025 results were calculated using improved figures from Scopus — a globally recognized citation database — for the period 2019-2024. Dal was credited with 235,948 net citations (excluding self-citations) for this period. When normalized per faculty member, that’s more than three times the global median. Dal's top areas for citations were Life Sciences & Medicine and Engineering & Technology.

The university also rose in the International Research Network indicator, up 16 spots year over year to 353 globally with a score of 79.9. The indicator — which measures an average index across five broad subject areas — assesses the richness and diversity of an institution's international research partnerships. At 54.9, Dal's index sat 14 points above the global median of 40.7.

Dal achieved a perfect score of 100 on the International Faculty indicator, up from 99.9 last year. Despite the score, its rank remained relatively flat at 88. Dal has a ratio of 51.3 international faculty on staff per 100 faculty members, well above the global median of 8.

Dal's domestic performance

Find out how Dal ranked domestically across all indicators compared to 29 Canadian peers:

International faculty: 2

Citations per Faculty: 5

International Students Diversity: 7

International Students: 8

International Research Network:Ìý11

Sustainability: 12

Employer Reputation: 13

Faculty Student Ratio: 13

Academic Reputation: 14

Employment Outcomes: 17

Now read
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• Dal ranks in top 100 globally in 2025 Impact Rankings, cracks top 25 for clean water