TEHRAN – Shanghai University ranking 2025 has placed six Iranian universities among the top 1,000 institutions worldwide, down from 9 in 2024.

ShanghaiRanking Consultancy has released the 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Since 2003, ARWU has been presenting the world’s top universities annually based on transparent methodology and objective third-party data.

It has been recognized as the precursor of global university rankings and the most trustworthy one. This year, more than 2,500 institutions were scrutinized, and the best 1,000 universities in the world are published.

Tehran University of Medical Sciences and University of Tehran are among the top 500 universities in the world, ranking 401–500 globally. Tarbiat Modares University ranks 701–800.

Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Sharif University of Technology rank 801-900. Iran University of Medical Sciences ranks 901–1000.

ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Clarivate, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index in the Web of Science, and per capita performance of a university.

Harvard University tops the ranking list for the 23rd year, followed by Stanford and MIT. Other Top 10 universities are Cambridge (4th), Berkeley (5th), Oxford (6th), Princeton (7th), Columbia (8th), Caltech (9th), and Chicago (10th).

Recent rankings

The July edition of the Webometrics world ranking has included 64 medical universities from Iran, unchanged from January’s edition, 11 of which have advanced in the ranking compared to the January edition.

Tehran University of Medical Sciences (485) is the only university ranked among the top 500 institutions in the world, Mehr news agency reported.

Among Iranian universities, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, and Yazd University of Medical Sciences have improved their rankings by 1002, 961, and 948 positions, respectively.

Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Kordestan University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, and Maraghe University of Medical Sciences are the other universities that have noticeably improved their rankings.

The Times Higher Education (THE) has included 34 universities from Iran among the top universities pursuing sustainable development goals (SDGs), up from 33 universities in 2024.

Iran University of Medical Sciences, with a global ranking of 301-400, is placed first in the country.

Alzahra University, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (ranking 401-600) are placed second.

Iran University of Medical Sciences ranks 48th in good health and well-being as well as reduced inequalities, and 62nd in quality education goals.

Alzahra University and Kerman University of Medical Sciences rank 85th and 89th in gender equality, respectively.

Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences ranks 30th in good health and well-being.

Amirkabir University of Technology and Shahid Beheshti University rank 46th and 60th in industry, innovation, and infrastructure.

The 22nd edition of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings (WUR), 2026, has placed nine Iranian universities among the world’s top institutes, unchanged from the 2025 ranking.

University of Tehran, with a global ranking of 322, ranks first among the Iranian universities.

Sharif University of Technology (ranking 375) and Amirkabir University of Technology (456) are placed second and third.

Iran University of Science and Technology (496), Isfahan University of Technology (571), University of Tabriz (578), Shiraz University (701-710), Shahid Beheshti University (741-750), and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (951- 1000) are other top universities included in this year’s ranking.

The Round University Ranking (RUR) 2025 has placed 36 Iranian universities among the top universities in the world, up from 32 universities in 2024.

Islamic Azad University, with a global ranking of 93, is placed first in the country.

Tehran University of Medical Sciences (125), University of Tehran (202), Iran University of Science and Technology (355), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (371), Sharif University of Technology (389), University of Tabriz (422), Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (440), Qazvin University of Medical Sciences (445), and Shahid Beheshti University (454) ranked second to tenth.

MT/MG