Hebrew U., Weizmann, Technion among top 100 schools

HU comes in No. 90, taking top spot in Israel after falling below 100 last year.

Students at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem earlier this year. (photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)
Students at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem earlier this year.
(photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)

Three Israeli universities ranked among the top 100 in the world in this year’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) by Shanghai Ranking.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem came in No. 90 on the annual list, taking the top spot in Israel after falling below 100 last year. It was Hebrew University’s best showing on the list since 2016.

The Weizmann Institute of Science placed 92nd, and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology came in 94th of the 1,000 best schools in the world.

Tel Aviv University placed in the 151-200 bracket, Bar-Ilan University and Ben-Gurion University ranked in the 401-500 bracket, and the University of Haifa came in between 501 and 600.

Globally, Harvard University topped the ranking list for the 19th year. Stanford University and the University of Cambridge remained at the No. 2 and No. 3 seats, followed by MIT (4th), Berkeley (5th), Princeton (6th), Oxford (7th), Columbia (8th), Caltech (9th), and Chicago (10th). The United States dominated the list, as usual, with 129 of the top 500 schools.

“This ranking is a tribute to the standard of excellence demonstrated day in and day out by Hebrew University staff, students and professors alike,” said Hebrew University President Prof. Asher Cohen. “The coronavirus pandemic demonstrated to the world the importance of strong research and scientific scholarship. With three Israeli academic institutions in the Top 100, I feel confident that Israel will make it through, and that our researchers will continue to be a guiding light and a positive influence both at home and abroad.”

The results of the Shanghai Ranking list are similar to those of other academic rankings. In the most recent QS World University Rankings, Hebrew University came in first among Israeli schools, followed by Tel Aviv and the Technion, with Weizmann not included. In the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), Hebrew University also placed first, followed by Weizmann, Tel Aviv and the Technion.