Accordingly, VNU has three academic disciplines ranked by the QS, namely:

- Mathematics ranks 401 - 450 globally and 1st in Vietnam;

- Physics and Astronomy ranks 551 - 600 globally and 1st in Vietnam;

- Computer Science & Information Systems ranks in the world’s top 501 - 550 and 2nd in Vietnam, climbing from 551 – 600 in 2019.

Among the ranking indicators, Computer Science and Information Systems has the highest H-index score; Physics scores in employer reputation; Physics & Astronomy and Mathematics are highly appreciated for the citation index.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) is the world’s leading institution in all the above-mentioned academic disciplines. As for Asia, the National University of Singapore comes first for Computer Science and Information Systems and Mathematics; the University of Tokyo leads the region in Physics & Astronomy.

According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020, all the three VNU’s ranked academic disciplines score higher in employer reputation than in the other criteria. Although not featuring in the list, Education has the highest score in employer reputation (72.6/100); Geography is most appreciated for academic reputation (58/100); Engineering, Aerospace and Manufacturing is most appreciated for the citation index (66.8/100); and Environmental Science is most appreciated for H-index (67/100).

The QS World University Rankings by Subject is based on four indicators: Academic reputation, Employer reputation, Research citations per paper and H-index, with weightings adapted for each academic discipline.