Multiple organizations annually rank universities around the world based on different criteria.

A look at Iran’s universities in these systems over the past decade shows that these universities have had an upward movement, standing above other Islamic countries, evidently.

Achieving better ranks in different ranking systems not only helps universities increase their reputation but also helps them attract better students and faculty and as a result, improve the quality of education.

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World Rankings of Universities, The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, The Shanghai Ranking, and Leiden Ranking are among the most important systems publishing rankings for universities.

Each system takes into account specific metrics including scientific impact, international faculty members, elite students, number of professors and students winning Scientific awards, graduate employment, scientific inventions, and validity of the published articles in specific time intervals.

39 Iranian universities in Times ranking

The Times Higher Education Young University Rankings list the world’s best universities that are 50 years old or younger.

The ranking is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across five areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfers, industrial income, and international outlook.

The 2023 ranking includes 605 universities. Iran became the third more represented nation with 39 institutions.

The Mazandaran University of Medical Science, Kurdistan University of Medical Science, Qazvin University of Medical Science, Babol University of Medical Science, and Qom University of Medical Science, ranked respectively 65, 76, 87, 92, and 100, are among the top 100 universities, compared with two universities last year.

7 Iranian universities in QS ranking

The latest edition of the QS World University Rankings (2024) has placed seven Iranian universities among the world’s top institutes.

The ranking features 1,497 institutions worldwide based on the three indicators of Sustainability, Employment Outcomes, and International Research Network.

The Sharif University of Technology, University of Tehran, Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran University of Science and Technology, Shiraz University, Shahid Beheshti University, and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad are the top Iranian universities.

27 Islamic countries were present in this ranking. Among Islamic countries, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey have the largest number of universities with 28, 26, and 25 universities, respectively.

46 Iranian universities in Leiden ranking

The Leiden ranking system published the 2023 report, according to which 46 Iranian universities were among the 1,411 top universities in the world. Among Islamic countries, Iran ranked first, followed by Turkey and Egypt with 36 and 13 universities, respectively.

The University of Tehran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modarres University, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Amirkabir University of Technology, and University of Science and Technology, were the first five top universities from Iran.

Compared with other Islamic countries, Iran is the first country with 46 universities. The whole Islamic countries have presented 145 universities in this ranking. Turkey with 36, Egypt with 13, Saudi Arabia with 11, and Pakistan with 9 universities followed Iran.

65 Iranian universities in Times Asia ranking

In the 2023 edition of the Times Higher Education’s Asian University Ranking System, 669 institutions from 31 Asian countries are included and 65 Iranian universities are among the top Asian institutions.

The Sharif University of Technology is ranked first in the country and 64th in Asia. Mazandaran University of Medical Science (65th), Golestan University of Medical Science (69th), Kurdistan University of Medical Science (71st), and University of Science and Technology (74th) ranked next in Iran, respectively.

A total of 253 universities from 17 Islamic countries presented the 2023 ranking, compared with 209 universities in 2022. In terms of the number of universities, Iran ranked first, with 65 universities, while Turkey (61) and Pakistan (29) ranked second and third.

115 Iranian universities in highly cited institutes

According to the latest bi-monthly edition of the ESI database, the number of the world’s top universities and research institutes in all subject areas is 8,557, of which 115 universities and research institutes from the Islamic Republic of Iran are on this list.

The number of top Iranian universities and research institutes has increased from 112 last year to 115 this year.

Iran’s top universities and research institutes are present in 19 subject areas, and the largest number is in the engineering subject area with 59 universities and research institutes.

The number of institutions in the fields of clinical medicine was 57, chemistry 50, material sciences 25, agricultural sciences 23, pharmacology and toxicology 19, plant and animal sciences 16, environment/ecology 15, social sciences, biology and biochemistry, and computer sciences 13 each, neuroscience and behavior 7, geology 6, physics and immunology 5 each, molecular biology and genetics 4, mathematics and microbiology 2 each, and psychiatry/psychology 1.

34 Iranian universities in Shanghai ranking

The Academic Ranking of the World Universities (ARWU), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is published in two general areas, broad subject fields, and specific subjects. The ranking includes Natural Sciences, Engineering, Life Sciences, Medical Sciences, and Social Sciences.

According to Shanghai Ranking’s ARWU, 2021, a total of 34 Iranian universities and institutions were listed among the top 1,000 in the world.

Iran ranks 30th in Nature Index 

The Nature Index is a database of author affiliations and institutional relationships. The index tracks contributions to research articles published in 82 high-quality natural science journals, chosen by an independent group of researchers.

Data in the Nature Index are updated regularly. There are three measures provided by the Nature Index to track affiliation data including the article count (AC), the fractional count (FC), and the weighted fractional count (WFC).

Based on the latest edition of this ranking (Dec. 1, 2021- Nov.30, 2022), China, America, and Germany ranked first to third, respectively.

Iran ranked 30th in the world. Shiraz University, Institute for Research in Fundamental Science, and Tehran University ranked first to third.