Physics (7th in the UK, Guardian 2021), Sociology (10th in the UK, Guardian 2021), and Sports Science (2nd in the UK, Complete 2021; 10th in the UK, Guardian 2021). Economics was ranked 11th in the UK by Times Subject Rankings and 12th in the UK by Complete University Guide 2019.
=== Affiliations and partnerships ===
In 2022, the university formed an international university alliance with the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada and Curtin University in Perth, Australia to address global challenges together. The alliance provides joint research centres, collaborative academic programs, industry linkage, and student and staff mobility exchanges.
The university is a member of the University of the Arctic and participates in its mobility program, north2north, which enables students of member institutions to study in different parts of the North.
=== Admissions ===
Aberdeen was ranked 9th for the average entry tariff by the Complete University Guide 2021 and 10th in the UK for the average entry tariff by Guardian 2025 rankings.
The university has one of the smallest percentages of students from lower-class backgrounds, being ranked fifth from bottom for class equality. The university participates in widening access schemes such as the Children's University, REACH Scotland, Access Aberdeen, and ASPIRENorth, in order to promote a more widespread uptake of those traditionally under-represented at university.
=== Lecture series ===
The Gifford Lectures, established in 1887 by Adam Gifford, began at the university (along with the other ancient universities in Scotland) with E.B Tylor's lecture on the Natural History of Religion between 1889 and 1991. Since then, over 30 Gifford Lectures have been given at the university, with some distinguished figures including Hannah Arendt, Alfred North Whitehead, Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, Michael Polanyi, N.T. Wright, and Jaroslav Pelikan.
A public lecture series was held in 2011 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King's James Bible. The university …
