THE

Life Sciences 2026

Times Higher Education World University Rankings · · Methodology · Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings official website · Editorial Standards

Evaluates universities worldwide for research strength and academic impact in life sciences.

THE evaluates universities across five pillars — Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, Industry, and International Outlook — making it one of the most comprehensive ranking systems.

How does Life Sciences evaluate universities?

Life Sciences, published by Times Higher Education World University Rankings, evaluates universities worldwide using key indicators such as Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, Industry, International Outlook, each assigned a distinct weight according to a publicly documented methodology. Data sources combine academic peer reviews, employer surveys, bibliometric databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, and institutional self-reported statistics, all independently verified by the publisher's research team. The 2026 edition assessed 1209 universities from 16 countries and regions, covering teaching quality, research output, internationalization, and graduate employability across undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs. Times Higher Education World University Rankings recollects raw data annually and cross-checks results to ensure the rankings reflect each institution's most current performance in faculty strength, scholarly productivity, global reach, and student outcomes, providing a reliable reference for prospective students, parents, and education researchers.

Which are the top universities in Life Sciences 2026?

The top universities in Life Sciences 2026 are: KU Leuven, Northwestern University, Monash University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Seoul National University. This edition, published by Times Higher Education World University Rankings, evaluated 1209 universities from 16 countries and regions using indicators such as Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, Industry, International Outlook. Rankings reflect weighted performance across multiple dimensions; students should consider methodology differences and their own academic priorities when interpreting results.

How does Life Sciences differ from other ranking systems?

THE (Times Higher Education) World University Rankings is among the most comprehensive, evaluating universities across teaching (30%), research environment (30%), research quality (30%), industry income (2.5%), and international outlook (7.5%), with 18 fine-grained indicators. Data sources combine the Elsevier Scopus bibliometric database, academic reputation surveys, and institution-reported statistics. The methodology underwent a major 2024 revision, adding a Research Quality category to reduce reliance on sheer output volume. In comparison, QS leans more on reputation surveys, ARWU is built solely on objective research metrics (Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers), and US News centers on research productivity and citation impact. THE suits applicants seeking a balanced view of a university's combined research and teaching strength.

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🇩🇿 Algeria
🇦🇷 Argentina
🇦🇺 Australia
🇦🇹 Austria
🇧🇩 Bangladesh
🇧🇪 Belgium
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina
🇧🇼 Botswana
🇧🇷 Brazil
🇧🇳 Brunei
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
🇨🇦 Canada
🇨🇱 Chile
🇨🇳 China
🇨🇴 Colombia
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇺 Cuba
🇨🇾 Cyprus
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇪🇨 Ecuador
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇪🇪 Estonia
🇫🇮 Finland
🇫🇷 France
🇬🇪 Georgia
🇩🇪 Germany
🇬🇭 Ghana
🇬🇷 Greece
🇭🇰 Hong Kong
🇭🇺 Hungary
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇮🇳 India
🇮🇩 Indonesia
🇮🇷 Iran
🇮🇶 Iraq
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇮🇱 Israel
🇮🇹 Italy
🇯🇵 Japan
🇯🇴 Jordan
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
🇰🇪 Kenya
🇽🇰 Kosovo
🇰🇼 Kuwait
🇱🇻 Latvia
🇱🇧 Lebanon
🇱🇹 Lithuania
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇲🇴 Macau
🇲🇰 Macedonia
🇲🇾 Malaysia
🇲🇹 Malta
🇲🇽 Mexico
🇲🇪 Montenegro
🇲🇦 Morocco
🇳🇵 Nepal
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇳🇿 New Zealand
🇳🇬 Nigeria
🇳🇴 Norway
🇴🇲 Oman
🇵🇰 Pakistan
🇵🇪 Peru
🇵🇭 Philippines
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇷🇴 Romania
🇷🇺 Russia
🇷🇼 Rwanda
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
🇸🇳 Senegal
🇷🇸 Serbia
🇸🇬 Singapore
🇸🇰 Slovakia
🇸🇮 Slovenia
🇿🇦 South Africa
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇪🇸 Spain
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
🇸🇪 Sweden
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇹🇼 Taiwan
🇹🇿 Tanzania
🇹🇭 Thailand
🇹🇳 Tunisia
🇹🇷 Turkey
🇺🇬 Uganda
🇺🇦 Ukraine
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States
🇻🇳 Vietnam
🇿🇲 Zambia
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
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Total 1,209 universities

Per page

10
20
50
100
University
Country
51 KU Leuven logo KU Leuven (KUL) 🇧🇪 Belgium 72.3 56.2 61.8 87.9 100.0 79.2
52 Northwestern University logo Northwestern University (NU) 🇺🇸 United States 72.1 57.3 58.8 92.4 66.6 79.3
53 Monash University logo Monash University 🇦🇺 Australia 71.8 56.3 57.5 87.7 99.9 88.3
54 Shanghai Jiao Tong University logo Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) 🇨🇳 China 71.7 63.4 63.9 82.5 99.9 63.4
55 Seoul National University logo Seoul National University (SNU) 🇰🇷 South Korea 71.3 72.0 72.0 75.7 100.0 30.4
56 Uppsala University logo Uppsala University 🇸🇪 Sweden 71.2 58.1 59.8 83.5 99.7 84.8
57 University of Manchester logo University of Manchester 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 70.8 54.7 53.9 91.4 75.0 89.8
58 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill logo University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) 🇺🇸 United States 70.6 59.5 59.6 89.8 73.1 57.8
59 The University of Osaka logo The University of Osaka 🇯🇵 Japan 69.7 74.0 77.0 61.3 100.0 51.8
60 University of Göttingen logo University of Göttingen (GAU) 🇩🇪 Germany 69.2 51.6 59.1 88.9 67.5 76.6
61 Université Paris-Saclay logo Université Paris-Saclay 🇫🇷 France 68.2 64.1 54.1 77.5 92.3 76.4
62 Boston University logo Boston University (BU) 🇺🇸 United States 68.1 50.5 49.2 92.1 81.9 78.3
63 University of Florida logo University of Florida (UF) 🇺🇸 United States 68.0 67.1 68.0 70.2 85.3 51.8
64 Sorbonne Université logo Sorbonne Université 🇫🇷 France 67.4 60.8 52.5 78.5 75.9 86.5
65 Aarhus University logo Aarhus University (AU) 🇩🇰 Denmark 67.3 49.0 57.3 82.3 99.6 80.4
66 = University of Helsinki logo University of Helsinki (UH) 🇫🇮 Finland 67.1 51.0 54.9 88.1 68.1 67.7
66 = University of Massachusetts System logo University of Massachusetts System 🇺🇸 United States 67.1 57.3 54.3 81.8 77.7 73.1
68 University of Tübingen logo University of Tübingen 🇩🇪 Germany 67.0 48.4 53.3 86.7 80.7 82.3
69 Vanderbilt University logo Vanderbilt University 🇺🇸 United States 66.6 48.2 51.4 86.9 100.0 72.2
70 Emory University logo Emory University 🇺🇸 United States 66.5 48.1 49.5 89.8 81.8 75.1
71 University of Glasgow logo University of Glasgow 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 66.2 48.9 47.0 87.3 68.7 95.3
72 Chinese University of Hong Kong logo Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 66.1 48.4 45.5 90.5 67.1 86.9
73 Nanjing University logo Nanjing University (NJU) 🇨🇳 China 66.0 50.9 47.1 92.0 97.0 49.0
74 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin logo Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) 🇩🇪 Germany 65.9 48.9 48.5 87.6 69.2 84.0
75 = Tohoku University logo Tohoku University 🇯🇵 Japan 65.8 72.1 70.8 56.9 96.7 51.2
75 = University of Science and Technology of China logo University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) 🇨🇳 China 65.8 44.7 44.0 97.0 96.3 55.3
77 The University of Western Australia logo The University of Western Australia (UWA) 🇦🇺 Australia 65.2 42.5 47.2 86.0 98.3 94.7
78 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology logo Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 🇰🇷 South Korea 65.1 54.1 52.6 84.8 99.8 37.6
79 Purdue University West Lafayette logo Purdue University West Lafayette 🇺🇸 United States 65.0 57.8 56.1 72.7 85.3 74.9
80 City University of Hong Kong logo City University of Hong Kong 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 64.8 38.5 37.6 94.7 97.7 97.5
80 = Lund University logo Lund University 🇸🇪 Sweden 64.8 48.2 52.9 77.3 95.4 91.5
80 = Michigan State University logo Michigan State University (MSU) 🇺🇸 United States 64.8 59.4 57.9 74.1 65.8 64.6
82 University of Freiburg logo University of Freiburg 🇩🇪 Germany 64.7 47.1 47.2 82.8 94.4 89.0
83 University of Bristol logo University of Bristol 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 64.6 47.4 46.2 86.9 69.0 84.5
85 = University of Groningen logo University of Groningen 🇳🇱 Netherlands 64.3 40.7 46.9 85.8 99.7 90.4
85 = University of Minnesota logo University of Minnesota 🇺🇸 United States 64.3 56.6 58.7 74.6 100.0 44.6
87 = Australian National University logo Australian National University (ANU) 🇦🇺 Australia 64.0 43.8 46.0 85.5 74.0 93.5
87 = UNSW Sydney logo UNSW Sydney (UNSW) 🇦🇺 Australia 64.0 36.9 42.0 93.3 80.2 92.1
89 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign logo University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) 🇺🇸 United States 63.8 55.1 50.4 80.1 68.6 63.6
90 Freie Universität Berlin logo Freie Universität Berlin 🇩🇪 Germany 63.5 44.1 47.1 84.7 79.0 83.7
91 = Stockholm University logo Stockholm University 🇸🇪 Sweden 63.4 43.3 41.8 89.3 72.3 85.6
91 = University of Southern California logo University of Southern California (USC) 🇺🇸 United States 63.4 41.0 41.5 93.2 80.8 71.6
93 University of Birmingham logo University of Birmingham 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 63.3 39.5 41.2 91.1 69.2 93.3
94 University of Amsterdam logo University of Amsterdam (UvA) 🇳🇱 Netherlands 63.1 41.0 46.5 89.4 76.4 70.0
95 University of Basel logo University of Basel 🇨🇭 Switzerland 63.0 43.7 39.0 84.8 99.8 94.8
96 University of Alberta logo University of Alberta 🇨🇦 Canada 62.9 44.4 53.4 75.7 100.0 82.5
97 University of Leeds logo University of Leeds 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 62.7 40.7 40.6 88.9 68.2 94.2
98 University of Lausanne logo University of Lausanne (UNIL) 🇨🇭 Switzerland 62.6 38.9 40.3 86.9 98.4 93.6
99 University of Pittsburgh logo University of Pittsburgh 🇺🇸 United States 62.5 40.6 54.0 84.9 94.9 49.1
100 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology logo Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 62.2 36.1 41.1 87.2 96.8 93.7