Ranking Shanghai Ranking: Universität Heidelberg Achieves Top Placements
18 August 2025
Ruperto Carola in 51st place worldwide – among the best three in Germany
Heidelberg University has achieved top placements in the 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities. As in the previous year, it is one of the “Top Three” universities in Germany. In the global comparison, Ruperto Carola is in 51st position in this so-called Shanghai Ranking, and takes 16th place at the European level.
In the national comparison, Heidelberg University ranks behind LMU Munich and Technical University of Munich. A total of four German universities are among the “Top 100”. Besides Heidelberg and the two Munich universities, these include the University of Bonn.
The Shanghai Ranking primarily measures a university’s academic influence, making research a key factor in the evaluation. Citations and publications in international scholarly journals each make up 20 percent of the assessment, as do the most frequently cited scientists, and also researchers winning Nobel Prizes or Fields Medals. The remaining indicators include, inter alia, the alumni who have likewise received one of these two prestigious awards.
The latest Academic Ranking of World Universities was published on 15 August. More than 2,500 universities were ranked for the current list; the 2025 Shanghai Ranking publishes the best 1,000 institutions.