The rise of 51¹ú²úÊÓƵn institutions in the World 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ Rankings is reflected in our five subject tables (published over the next five pages).

The US and the UK continue to dominate the upper echelons of the tables, but some of the biggest climbers are from 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ.

The subject tables cover five core areas: engineering and information technology; life sciences and biomedicine; natural sciences; social sciences; and arts and humanities.

Institutions are ranked exclusively on the results of Times Higher Education's academic opinion survey, which asks scholars to list the best institutions in their field. It was based this year on 9,386 responses.

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

We also publish in the tables a "citations per paper" score (rather than citations per person as there are insufficient data on staff numbers at subject level). But this score is not combined with the peer-review survey results.

In the arts and humanities table (page xviii), Harvard 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ is, unsurprisingly, top, followed by the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Oxford, then the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Cambridge.

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

But a number of 51¹ú²úÊÓƵn institutions have enjoyed a dramatic rise in this table. The 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Tokyo moved up 15 places to 13th, while Kyoto jumped 17 places to 20th. The 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Hong Kong rose 12 places to 34th, while Seoul National 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ leapt 43 places to 33rd.

Seoul National 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ also performed strongly in the engineering and information technology table (see right), rising 16 places to joint th. This table is dominated by institutions in the US' technology hubs on the East and West coasts. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is top, followed by the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of California, Berkeley and Stanford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, in Silicon Valley.

In life sciences (page xvi), Seoul National 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ is a big winner again, up 16 places to 24th, reflecting a strong showing in the peer-review survey. But Kyoto was another big climber, up 11 places to joint 13th.

The natural sciences table (page xvi) is the only one of the five subject tables to be topped by an institution outside the US - the UK's 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Cambridge. Cambridge pipped MIT and Berkeley to the top spot, but another 51¹ú²úÊÓƵn institution has done well: Japan's Tohoku 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ climbed 19 places to 49th.

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

In social sciences (page xviii), Japan has another notable climber: Kyoto rose 13 places to 29th. But the table is topped by Harvard, followed by California Berkeley and Oxford.

Across all five tables, Harvard tops three.

? Times Higher Education-QS World 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ Rankings 2009: full coverage and tables

phil.baty@tsleducation.com.