Written by David Graff and translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication & Public Affairs

Around the world, the demand is growing for engineers to lead the development of IT solutions, sustainable energy systems, cybersecurity, defence technology, and so on. Engineers have thus climbed to the top of the list of national interests in many countries, including Denmark.

Danish engineers are at the forefront
Therefore, it is vitally important for Denmark that Aalborg University continues to be among the very best engineering universities in the world – as once again illustrated by the recently published rankings 'Best Global Universities 2025-2026' from the U.S. News & World Report. 

This year, Aalborg University ranks No. 3 in Europe after ETH Zurich and Imperial College London.

"We are very proud of the assessment and of being number three — standing on the European podium alongside two of the most excellent engineering universities in Europe and the world," says Jesper Wengel, Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Science.

He adds: 

"But we would really like to return to first place, and we are working hard toward that every day with a strategic ambition to help make research and innovation a strength for Denmark resulting in technology development and leading to international, strong and research-based spin-out companies."

16 Chinese universities ahead of Aalborg
Tsinghua University tops the global list and, along with 15 other Chinese universities, ranks ahead of Aalborg University. This trend, according to Dean Thomas Bak from the Technical Faculty of IT and Design, requires special attention:

“There is a clear trend that more and more universities from Asia are entering the top of the list. It reflects the major investment in engineering disciplines that appears to be happening there, and which we should take note of. In Denmark, Europe, and the West, we must ensure that our research and educational environments in engineering are at least equally strong, as they are crucial for the development of critical technologies and the green transition. We cannot afford to fall behind,” he points out.

On the global list, two universities from the USA, two from Singapore, two from Hong Kong, one from Australia, one from the Middle East, and two from Europe rank ahead of Aalborg University — in addition to the 16 from China.

Other Danish universities on the European list are DTU - Technical University of Denmark (No. 6), Aarhus University (No. 37) and University of Southern Denmark (No. 70).

Engineering is represented in three of Aalborg University's four faculties, namely the Technical Faculty of IT and Design, the Faculty of Engineering and Science and the Faculty of Medicine, so the ranking reflects research broadly at the university.