Another thing we like about the annual Times Higher Education World University Rankings is that they list the universities with the top rankings several subject areas, including engineering and technology; arts and humanities (literature, history, philosophy); life sciences (biology, chemistry); physical sciences (physics, geology); and social sciences (sociology, psychology, political science, economics).

Below are the 2013 world rankings of leading U.S. public universities, by subject area:

Engineering and Technology:

UC Berkeley (4)

UCLA (7)

Georgia Tech (9)

UT Austin (13)

UC Santa Barbara (17)

Michigan (19)

Illinois (20)

Washington (34)

Purdue (45)

UC Davis (48)

Arts and Humanities:

UC Berkeley (7)

UCLA (16)

Michigan (18)

Rutgers (20)

UT Austin (22)

Wisconsin (27)

North Carolina (33)

UC San Diego (35)

UMass Amherst (42)

Pitt (45)

Arizona (49)

Virginia (45)

Life Sciences:

UC Berkeley (6)

UCLA (15)

UC San Diego (17)

Michigan (18)

Washington (24)

UC Davis (25)

Wisconsin (30)

North Carolina (35)

UMass Amherst (38)

UC Santa Barbara (39)

Penn State (43)

Illinois (47)

Physical Sciences:

UC Berkeley (2)

UCLA (9)

Washington (14)

UC Santa Barbara (15)

UT Austin (18)

Michigan (20)

Illinois (24)

Colorado (30)

Wisconsin (38)

Georgia Tech (47)

UC Santa Cruz (48)

Social Sciences:

Michigan (12)

UCLA (12)

UC Berkeley (14)

Wisconsin (21)

North Carolina (25)

Washington (27)

UT Austin (28)

Minnesota (29)

UC San Diego (31)

Ohio State (34)

Illinois (34)

Penn State (37)

Michigan State (47)

UC Santa Barbara (49)