Six Iranian universities in Shanghai ranking 2026

TEHRAN – Shanghai University ranking 2026 has placed six Iranian universities among the top 1,000 institutions worldwide, unchanged compared to the past year.

Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) considers every university that has any Nobel Laureates, Fields Medalists, Highly Cited Researchers selected by Clarivate, or papers published in Nature or Science. In addition, universities with a significant number of papers indexed in the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) in the Web of Science are also included. In total, more than 2500 universities are actually ranked, and the best 1000 are published.

Tehran University of Medical Sciences and the University of Tehran, with a global ranking of 501-600, are jointly placed first in the country, IRNA reported.

Amirkabir University of Technology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Sharif University of Technology, and Tarbiat Modares University rank third to sixth, respectively.

ARWU uses several academic or research performance indicators to rank world universities, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, Highly Cited Researchers, papers published in Nature and Science, papers indexed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic performance of an institution.

Harvard University tops the ranking list for the 24th year, followed by Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Other Top 10 universities are Cambridge (4th), Berkeley (5th), Princeton (6th), Oxford (7th), Columbia (8th), Chicago (9th), and California Institute of Technology (10th).

Recent rankings

The 2026-2027 edition of the U.S. News Best Global Universities Rankings has included 80 Iranian universities among the world’s 2,250 top universities.

The institutions from 105 countries have been ranked based on 13 indicators that measure their academic research performance and their global and regional reputations, which helps students to explore the higher education options that exist beyond their own countries’ borders and to compare key aspects of schools’ research missions.

University of Tehran (with a global ranking of 314), Islamic Azad University (460), Sharif University of Technology (578), Tehran University of Medical Sciences (585), University of Tabriz (663), Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (783), Tarbiat Modares University (783), Amirkabir University of Technology (791), and Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (801) ranked first to tenth in the country, respectively, Mehr news agency reported.

The following is the ranking of these universities based on their global subject standings.

University of Tehran: Polymer Science (5), Green and Sustainable Science and Technology (17), Water resources (35), Pharmacology and Toxicology (59), Agricultural Sciences (65), Energy and Fuels (66), Engineering (68), Food Science and Technology (76), Plant and Animal Science (77), Mechanical Engineering (78), Civil Engineering (92), and Artificial Intelligence (104).

Islamic Azad University: Polymer Science (12), Green and Sustainable Science and Technology (26), Energy and Fuels (44), Mathematics (47), Mechanical Engineering (56), Food Science and Technology (59), Civil Engineering (66), Water Resources (69), Engineering (77), Pharmacology and Toxicology (77), Public, Environmental and Occupational Health (102), and Artificial Intelligence (107).

Sharif University of Technology: Mechanical Engineering (73) and Civil Engineering (109).

Tehran University of Medical Sciences: Polymer Science (32), Pharmacology and Toxicology (49), Public, Environmental and Occupational Health (86), and Food Science and Technology (96).

University of Tabriz: Water Resources (55), Polymer Science (66), and Food Science and Technology (69).

Mashhad University Medical Science: Public, Environmental and Occupational Health (77), and Pharmacology and Toxicology (97).

Tarbiat Modares University: Water Resources (90); Amirkabir University of Technology: Polymer Science (49).

Tabriz University of Medical Sciences: Polymer Science (21), and Pharmacology and Toxicology (94).

The 2025 World University Rankings (WUR) report by the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) has included 76 Iranian universities, an increase from 72 in 2024.

Among the top universities of Islamic countries, Saudi Arabia ranks 229. Qatar (301-350), Malaysia (351-400), Iran, and the UAE (jointly rank 401-500) are placed next.

In the research criterion, Tehran University of Medical Sciences ranks first in the country. The university’s global ranking is 373, up from 501-600 in 2024.

In the education criterion, Graduate University of Advanced Technology (129), Iran University of Medical Sciences (214), Tehran University of Medical Sciences (255), Golestan University of Medical University (273), and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (340) are placed first to fifth.

In the international activity criterion, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (440), University of Tehran (465), and Amirkabir University of Technology (611) rank first to third.

In the innovation criterion, Amirkabir University of Technology ranks 774, and Sharif University of Technology ranks 804.

In the social impact criterion, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences rank 307, 410, and 427, respectively.

The 23rd edition of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings (WUR), 2027, has placed 11 Iranian universities among the world’s top institutes, up from nine universities in 2026.

Sharif University of Technology (ranking 390) and Amirkabir University of Technology (483) are placed second and third.

The 16th edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 has included 10 Iranian universities in three broad subject areas.

The 2026 edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject features 55 narrow subjects across five broad subject areas.

MT/MG