Swedish education
The University of Oxford, ranked number one in the world, has 38 different colleges and attracts nearly half a million tourists to the city annually. Archive the image. Photo: Malin Holstad/SVT/DD
Europe is losing ground to Asia in the rankings of the world's best universities. But when Times Higher Education ranks the top 2,000 in the world, Swedish universities climb the list.
Karolinska Institutet is the only Nordic university to enter the world's top 50 in the British magazine's rankings. KI ends at number 49, one place better than last year's ranking.
However, Karolinska has a significantly higher ranking. Before the scandal surrounding surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, the medical university was ranked 28th in 2016.
Sweden has five universities ranked in the top 200 and a total of 13. Seven have improved their status from last year and three have failed. That equates to a 31 percent improvement rate, according to Times Higher Education.
American and British dominance
Topping the list, for the ninth consecutive year, is the University of Oxford in Great Britain. Both MIT and Harvard were then located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, outside of Boston. All top ten universities are located in USA or UK.
The ranking is based on several parameters, such as the reputation of teaching and research, the proportion of doctoral students and how often the university's research is praised or cited in scientific articles.
According to Times Higher Education, 2,092 universities from 115 different countries and regions were ranked.
Asia overtakes Europe
Despite good trends for Sweden and some European countries, Europe is losing ground. Europe was the most represented continent on the list, but for the second year in a row, Asia took the title.
Additionally, there are now only 91 universities in Europe, compared to 99 in 2019. China is consistently ranked twelfth in the world's top ten universities, with Peking University ranked 13th. The top university in Japan, South Korea is on the rise and Singapore is in the rankings.
Markus Botsjö/TT
facts
1. University of Oxford, United Kingdom
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
3. Harvard University, USA
4. Princeton University, USA
5. University of Cambridge, England
6. Stanford University, USA
7. California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA
8. University of California, Berkeley, USA
9. Imperial College London, UK
10. Yale University, USA
Swedish universities in the top 200 places: Karolinska Institutet (49), Royal Institute of Technology (shared place 95), Lund University (shared place 95), Uppsala University (shared place 130), Stockholm University (shared place 191).
Swedish universities on site 201-250: Chalmers University of Technology, Linköping University, Gothenburg University.
Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025
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