diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 7744ac3..008f396 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
     <groupId>nl.knaw.huc</groupId>
     <artifactId>broccoli</artifactId>
-    <version>0.34.1</version>
+    <version>0.35.1</version>
 
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/nl/knaw/huc/broccoli/core/ElasticQueryBuilder.kt b/src/main/kotlin/nl/knaw/huc/broccoli/core/ElasticQueryBuilder.kt
index 5f7086e..d55af4b 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/nl/knaw/huc/broccoli/core/ElasticQueryBuilder.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/nl/knaw/huc/broccoli/core/ElasticQueryBuilder.kt
@@ -60,16 +60,16 @@ class ElasticQueryBuilder(private val index: IndexConfiguration) {
         aggregations = (query.aggregations ?: index.fields.map { it.name })
             .map { parseAggregationParameters(it) }
             .also { logger.atDebug().addArgument(it).log("parsed aggregation params: {}") }
-            .mapNotNull { args ->
-                when (index.fields.find { it.name == args.fieldName }?.type) {
+            .mapNotNull { params ->
+                when (index.fields.find { it.name == params.fieldName }?.type) {
                     "keyword", "short", "byte" ->
                         TermAggregation(
-                            name = args.fieldName,
-                            numResults = args.numResults,
-                            sortOrder = args.sortOrder
+                            name = params.fieldName,
+                            numResults = params.numResults,
+                            sortOrder = params.sortOrder
                         )
 
-                    "date" -> DateAggregation(args.fieldName)
+                    "date" -> DateAggregation(params.fieldName)
                     else -> null
                 }
             }
@@ -100,8 +100,14 @@ class ElasticQueryBuilder(private val index: IndexConfiguration) {
                         }
                     )
                 ),
-                aggregations = Aggregations(listOf(TermAggregation(curTerm.key)))
-            ))
+                aggregations = Aggregations(listOf(
+                    // use aggregation sort order / count, if specified
+                    query.aggregations?.find { it.startsWith(curTerm.key + ':') }?.let {
+                        parseAggregationParameters(it).let { params ->
+                            TermAggregation(params.fieldName, params.numResults, params.sortOrder)
+                        }
+                    } ?: TermAggregation(curTerm.key))
+                )))
         }
     }.toList()
 
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/nl/knaw/huc/broccoli/resources/projects/ProjectsResource.kt b/src/main/kotlin/nl/knaw/huc/broccoli/resources/projects/ProjectsResource.kt
index 68b14dd..7507f56 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/nl/knaw/huc/broccoli/resources/projects/ProjectsResource.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/nl/knaw/huc/broccoli/resources/projects/ProjectsResource.kt
@@ -120,11 +120,12 @@ class ProjectsResource(
             .also { logger.trace("base json: {}", it) }
 
         val result = mutableMapOf<String, Any>()
+        val aggs = mutableMapOf<String, Any>()
         jsonParser.parse(baseJson).let { context ->
             context.read<Map<String, Any>>("$.hits.total")
                 ?.let { result["total"] = it }
 
-            extractAggregations(context)?.let { result["aggs"] = it }
+            extractAggregations(context)?.let { aggs.putAll(it) }
 
             context.read<List<Map<String, Any>>>("$.hits.hits[*]")
                 ?.map { buildHitResult(index, it) }
@@ -140,12 +141,16 @@ class ProjectsResource(
             val auxJson = auxResult.readEntityAsJsonString()
                 .also { logger.trace("aux json[{}]: {}", auxIndex, it) }
             jsonParser.parse(auxJson).let { context ->
-                extractAggregations(context)?.let { aggs ->
-                    logger.debug("AUX[{}] extracted aggs: {}", auxIndex, aggs)
-                    @Suppress("UNCHECKED_CAST")
-                    (result["aggs"] as MutableMap<String, Any>).apply {
-                        aggs.forEach { (key, value) -> put(key, value) }
-                    }
+                extractAggregations(context)?.let { aggs.putAll(it) }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // if aggregations are requested, order them according to query string
+        (queryString.aggregations ?: index.fields.map { it.name }).let { orderedAggregationNames ->
+            result["aggs"] = LinkedHashMap<String, Any?>().apply {
+                orderedAggregationNames.forEach { unparsedName ->
+                    val parsedName = unparsedName.substringBefore(":")
+                    aggs[parsedName]?.let { put(parsedName, it) }
                 }
             }
         }