The results of the latest edition of the world’s best universities ranking, prepared by the international organization The Center for World University Rankings, have been announced. Among Polish universities, the Jagiellonian University was ranked the highest at 395th place, including its medical branch – the Collegium Medicum.

Once again, the global ranking was dominated by American universities – the top three spots were taken by Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University, respectively.

Among Polish universities, the Jagiellonian University proved to be the best.

“Although our ambitions are, of course, greater, we are very pleased that we continue to maintain the top position among Polish universities,” comments Prof. Maciej Małecki, JU Vice-Rector for the Collegium Medicum. “This result is influenced by, among other things, the high quality of research, including that conducted by scientists representing our three faculties: Medicine, Pharmacy, and Health Sciences, as well as the high standard of teaching, which we particularly care for at the Collegium Medicum. So once again, we have proven that – as a university educating future medical professionals – we work at the best Polish university, and the achievements of our medical community contribute significantly to the success of our entire Krakow Alma Mater.”

Since 2012, CWUR has published the only academic ranking of global universities that assesses the quality of education, employability, quality of faculty, and research without relying on surveys and data submitted by the universities themselves. The ranking began as a project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the aim of ranking the top 100 universities in the world. It was quickly reported on by universities and the media worldwide, and many requests were received to expand it. In 2019, it was expanded to include the top 2000 universities worldwide, making it the largest academic ranking of global universities.

The CWUR is based on 8 criteria: the success of alumni and academic staff in international competitions, the employment of alumni in directorial positions in global companies, publications in prestigious scientific journals and the most influential periodicals, citations, the university’s overall H-index, and the number of international patents.

In this year’s edition of the ranking, the top ten universities remain virtually unchanged. The first three places were taken by Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. The next two places went to British institutions – the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. They were followed by Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Yale University, and the University of Chicago.

The World University Ranking 2025 included 40 Polish universities. Among them, the highest places were taken by the Jagiellonian University (395th), the University of Warsaw (427th), and the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow (627th). The top ten is rounded out by the Warsaw University of Technology (754th), the Henryk Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (775th), Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (856th), the National Centre for Nuclear Research (869th), the Piast Silesian Medical University in Wrocław (859th), the Medical University of Warsaw (916th), and the University of Wrocław (937th).

The full results of the ranking are available on the CWUR website.