Eight Israeli academic departments make global top 50, down from 11 in 2024
The Hebrew University leads the Israeli showing with four top-50 departments, while the Technion has two and Weizmann and Haifa have one each
Eight Israeli academic departments ranked among the global top 50 in the 2026 Shanghai Ranking of Academic Subjects, released this month. The leading Israeli department was the Hebrew University’s Department of Communication, ranked 17th globally, followed by the Technion’s Department of Aerospace Engineering in 19th place.
The overall showing, however, represents a decline from 2023 and 2024, when 11 Israeli departments ranked among the global top 50. The 2024 ranking was a peak year for Israeli institutions.
The Hebrew University has the largest number of Israeli departments in the top 50, with four. It is followed by the Technion with two, while the Weizmann Institute and the University of Haifa have one each. The Technion’s total is down from three departments in 2024, while the Weizmann Institute and University of Haifa each had two departments in the top 50 that year.
The Hebrew University’s Communication department, which ranked 14th in 2024, slipped to 17th this year. It nevertheless performed particularly strongly in research publications, ranking ninth globally on that measure.
The Hebrew University also has seven departments ranked among the global top 100. The institution has maintained four departments in the top 50 in recent editions of the ranking.
Mathematics is one of two fields in which Israel has two institutions ranked among the global top 50. The Hebrew University ranks 24th, down from 14th in 2024, while the Weizmann Institute has continued to climb. After ranking in the 76-100 range in 2022, Weizmann reached 38th place in both 2025 and 2026. Rankings below 51 are generally published in institutional ranges rather than as individual positions.
The Technion also ranks 35th globally in Chemistry, but it has dropped out of the top 50 in Electrical Engineering. No Israeli institution made the global rankings in Civil Engineering, a result that could raise questions about Israel’s position in a field closely tied to infrastructure and construction.
Computer Science is another area where Israeli universities have not matched their reputation for technological research. Tel Aviv University is the only Israeli institution in the global top 100, ranking in the 76-100 range. The Technion ranks between 101 and 150.
The picture is similar in the relatively new field of Artificial Intelligence, which has been included in the subject rankings for only two years. Two Israeli universities appear in the ranking: the Technion is in the 101-150 range, while Tel Aviv University ranks between 201 and 300.
The differences between fields are particularly striking in business, economics and public administration. Tel Aviv University is the only Israeli institution ranked in Business Administration, and it falls in the 301-400 range. Economics does not produce a similarly strong showing for Israeli universities.
Public Administration presents a sharp contrast. Two Israeli institutions rank among the global top 50, with the Hebrew University in 44th place and the University of Haifa in 28th.
Haifa’s position is one of the biggest surprises in this year’s ranking. Its Public Administration department was ranked in the 76-100 range in 2002 and has since climbed to 28th globally, making it the highest-ranked Israeli institution in the field.
The Shanghai Ranking has been published since 2003 and evaluates the research performance of academic institutions. The Shanghai Ranking of Academic Subjects has been published since 2009. This year, approximately 2,000 universities from 96 countries were evaluated across 57 academic subjects.
