TEHRAN – Iran ranked 14th among 102 countries for the highest number of top universities, as 46 Iranian universities were listed on ISC World University Rankings 2020.

ISC is the third internationally accredited citation center established in the Islamic Republic of Iran based on a resolution adopted in 2008 by the 4th Meeting of the Islamic Ministers of Higher Education (ICMHESR) in Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to index, evaluate and publish scientific productions in Islamic countries.

There are 2,182 universities from 102 countries in the ranking, of which 46 universities are from Iran, ISNA reported.

In 2019, Iran participated with 43 universities, which shows an increased share in the recent ranking.

The United States with 312 universities tops the list, followed by China and Japan with 311 and 117 universities, respectively.

The United Kingdom with 99 universities listed in the ranking has placed fourth, while India with 98, and France with 79 came after it.

Turkey with 77 universities, Germany with 71, Italy with 65, Brazil with 63, South Korea with 62, Spain with 55, Poland with 47, and Iran with 46 universities are among 14 countries on top of the list in terms of the highest number of top universities.

The results show that the two universities of "Tehran Medical Sciences" and "Tehran" are among the top 600 in the list, Mohammad Javad Dehghani, head of the ISC said.

The Isfahan University of Technology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Sharif University of Technology, Amir Kabir University of Technology, Tarbiat Modarres University, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran University of Medical Sciences, and Shahid Beheshti University are among the top universities in this ranking, he stated.

In the ISC 2020 rankings, three universities of Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford are ranked first to third.

Among 57 Islamic countries, a total of 273 universities from 25 are included in the ranking system, he said, noting, Turkey with 77 universities, Iran and Malaysia with 46 and 22, respectively, are ranked among the top 3 universities on the list, he stated.

In total, only 7 universities among Islamic countries were ranked among the top 500. However, according to the 10-year plan of science, innovation, and technology of the Islamic member states (OIC approved in 2017 in Kazakhstan), it is necessary that by 2026, 50 universities from Islamic countries to be among the top 500 universities in the world.

Top universities in 2020

Times Higher Education has published its annual ranking of the world’s top universities for 2021, listing 47 Iranian universities, which shows an increase of 7 universities compared to the last year.

With 47 Iranian universities ranked among 1,527 top universities of 93 countries in the world in 2021 rankings, Iran achieved a great improvement in the academic field.

Some 21 Islamic countries were also listed in the ranking, however, Iran holds the highest share with 47 universities.

With a scientific growth rate of 10.4 percent in 2019, Iran ranked second among the top 25 countries in the world, next to China with a growth rate of 12.9 percent, according to the Web of Science website.

According to statistics released by the International Web of Science Database, Iran's citation rank has always been on the rise over the last eight years, from 24 in 2012 to 16 in 2019.

Iran ranks first in terms of the number of universities in the region and among Islamic countries, according to Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2020.

Two Iranian universities have been ranked among the top 100 universities in Asia, according to Webometrics Ranking of World Universities for July 2020.

Moreover, 7 Iranian universities have been listed among the best 1000 worldwide; including, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Sharif University of Technology, Tarbiat Modares University, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran University of Science and Technology.

In June, THE Asia University Rankings 2020 ranked five Iranian universities among the top 100 universities worldwide.

The Center for Science and Technology Studies Leiden Ranking has placed 36 Iranian universities in the list of over 1,000 major universities worldwide in 2020 compared with 26 universities in 2019.

Also, five Iranian universities have been placed among the world’s top 1,000 universities announced by the prestigious Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2021.

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