Israeli Universities Drop in World Rankings, Again

Israeli universities continue to decline in world rankings. Only the Technion Israel Institute of Technology was ranked in the top 100 of the Center for World University Rankings’ (CWUR) top 1000 universities list, also known as the Shanghai Ranking. The Haifa-based institute came in at 85th place in this year’s ranking, published last week, after placing at 77th in 2018. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel's oldest academic institution, dropped from 95th place in 2018 to the 101-150 bracket. In 2012, the Hebrew University was ranked 53rd on the list.

Four other Israeli universities made it to the top 500. Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science kept its spot in the 101-150 bracket. Tel Aviv University was ranked in the 151-200 group, same as in 2018, and Bar-Ilan University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev maintained their ranking in the 401-500 range. The University of Haifa ranked within the 601-700 category, same as last year.

The ARWU is an annual report published by the Center for world-class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University since 2003. While it was initially set up to rank the global quality of Chinese universities, it now rates the top 1000 global universities each year. The ranking is based on scientific output, with criteria such as the number of Nobel laureates and Field Medalists among alumni and staff, research output and quality, and per capita performance.