Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the site at the Weizmann Institute of Science that was hit by an Iranian ballistic missile, in Rehovot on June 20, 2025. Photo by Avi Ohayon/GPO.
The Shanghai 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities, published on Friday, includes three Israeli universities in its list of the top 100 universities in the world.
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, which suffered significant damage in an Iranian missile strike in June, is ranked 71st, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem 88th and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology 97th. All three appeared on the 2024 list as well but slipped in their positions this year.
The Weizmann Institute fell from 69th place in 2024 after ranking 68th in 2023. The Hebrew University dropped from 81st place in 2024 (and 86th in 2023). The Technion had the steepest decline, falling from 83rd place (and 79th in 2023).
Professor Asher Cohen, president of the Hebrew University, said in response, “The achievement of Israeli academia, with three institutions in the top 100, is particularly impressive in a challenging period, when we are facing unprecedented attacks on the international stage.”
The top five places in the rankings are unchanged from last year, with Harvard University taking first place, followed by Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley.
The Shanghai Ranking, published annually since 2003, evaluates the research performance of more than 2,500 universities worldwide based on several criteria. These include the number of Nobel and Fields Medal winners among researchers and alumni, the volume of scientific articles published in top-tier journals and other research-related metrics. The list publicly highlights the top 1,000 institutions.
Source: JNS
