The Most Influential Schools in the World
Find the most influential colleges and universities in the world in nearly 25 academic disciplines
Find brilliant thinkers for your research papers and bibliographies. Using our proprietary AI program, we have ranked everyone in Wikipedia, Wikidata, Schematic Scholar, and CrossRef based on the number of citations, publications, and academically relevant web presence. This is how we find the most influential people in the world.
We then gather all the faculty and alumni associated with a college or university and attribute the people’s influence to their schools. Hence, the most influential schools are those that employ and graduate the most influential faculty and alumni.
Students and parents now have the easiest and fastest way to find colleges and universities with histories of impacting the world through their scholarship. If you ever wanted to find schools that have the most influence in engineering or in literature, you now can!
Use the power of AI for your research!
If you are searching for your ideal college , our Build Your Own College Rankings tool has more options to help you find the right school for your degree. Methodology: How and Why We Rank by Influence …
List of the most influential schools in Biology,
Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of historically female colleges in the Northeastern United States. The college was founded in 1837 as the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary by Mary Lyon, a pioneer in education for women. Mount Holyoke is part of the Five College Consortium in Western Massachusetts.
Nankai University is a national public university located in Tianjin, China. Established in 1919 as the private Nankai School by Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling, the university is now affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. It is part of the Double First Class University Plan, Project 985, and Project 211.
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University is a public research university established on 8 February 1918 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Excluding academies and theological seminaries, which have intermittently functioned in Georgia for centuries, TSU is the oldest university in Georgia and the Caucasus region. The total enrollment is over 23,500 students, and there are 5,000 faculty and staff members overall.
James Cook University is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairns and Townsville, and one in the city state of Singapore. JCU also has study centres in Mount Isa, Mackay, Thursday Island and Rockhampton. A Brisbane campus, operated by Russo Higher Education, delivers undergraduate and postgraduate courses to international students. The university's main fields of research include environmental sciences, biological scienc...
The University of Libya was a public university based in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya. The university was established in 1955 and disestablished in 1973, when its colleges were split into two new universities: the University of Tripoli in Tripoli, and the University of Benghazi in Benghazi.
Pompeu Fabra University is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. The university was created by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia in 1990 and was named after Pompeu Fabra. It is highly competitive in research and has as its goal the transformation of education to meet the challenges of the future. UPF has been ranked the best university in Spain since 2015 and 16th best young university in the world in 2022 by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Sharif University of Technology is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is widely considered as the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.
Ural Federal University, named after the first President of Russia, B. N. Yeltsin, is an educational institution in the Ural region of Russia. The Ural Federal University was formed by a merger of the Ural State Technical University and Ural State University. It is one of 10 Russian Federal Universities. The university cooperates with the Russian Academy of Sciences and serves as a research and innovation center for the Ural region. UrFU offers educational programs in four areas of knowledge and 108 academic majors.
Vietnam National University, Hanoi is a public research university system in Hanoi, Vietnam. The university system has 10 member universities and faculties. VNU is one of two Vietnam's national universities, the other one being Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City.
The University of Science and Technology of China is a public university in Hefei, Anhui, China. It is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and co-sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Education of China, and the Anhui Provincial Government. The university is part of the Double First Class University Plan, Project 985, and Project 211.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for classes in 1922. Originally named the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, it became the University of Alaska in 1935. Fairbanks-based programs became the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1975.
Bowdoin College is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 35 majors and 40 minors, as well as several joint engineering programs with Columbia, Caltech, Dartmouth College, and the University of Maine.
The University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna was founded in 1767 as the world's third school for veterinary medicine by Milan's Ludovico Scotti, originally named k. k. Pferde-Curen- und Operationsschule . Today, it has c. 2,800 students and c. 600 employees.
Ohio University, sometimes referred to as Ohio or OU, is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subsequently approved for the territory in 1802 and state in 1804, opening for students in 1809. Ohio University is the oldest university in Ohio and among the oldest public universities in the United States.
Sapporo Agricultural College was a school in Sapporo, Hokkaidō established in September 1875 for the purpose of educating students in the agriculture industry. History The first president of the college was Zusho Hirotake.
The University of Puerto Rico is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 44,200 students and approximately 4,450 faculty members. UPR has the largest and most diverse academic offerings in the commonwealth, with 472 academic programs of which 32 lead to a doctorate.
The University of Lorraine , abbreviated as UL, is a public research university based in Lorraine, Grand Est region, France. It was created on 1 January 2012, by the merger of Henri Poincaré University, Nancy 2 University, Paul Verlaine University – Metz and the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine . It aimed to unify the main colleges of the Lorraine region. The merger process started in 2009 with the creation of a Pôle de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur and was completed in 2012.
The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace of Sanssouci which is known for its UNESCO World Heritage status.
The University of South Florida is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is home to 14 colleges, offering more than 240 undergraduate, graduate, specialist, and doctoral-level degree programs. USF is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities ...
The University of Perugia is a public university in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale. The official seal of the university depicts Saint Herculan, one of the patron saints, and the rampant crowned griffin, which is the city symbol; they represent the ecclesiastical and civil powers, respectively, which gave rise to the university in the Middle Ages.
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Kabul University
Kabul University is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd District of the capital Kabul, near the Ministry of Higher Education. It was founded in 1931 by King Mohammed Nadir Shah, whose prime minister at the time was his younger brother, Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan.
Yunnan University is a provincial public university in Kunming, Yunnan, China. It is affiliated with the Yunnan Provincial People's Government, and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China and the province. The university is part of the Double First Class University Plan and Project 211.
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Jilin University
Jilin University is a national public university located in Changchun, Jilin, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of the Double First Class University Plan, Project 985, and Project 211.
Barnard College was founded in 1889 as a women’s college associated with Columbia University. It remains an all-women’s institution to this day. Barnard graduates receive diplomas signed by the presidents of both Barnard College and Columbia University. The most popular among Barnard’s many programs are those in the social sciences, in the biological and biomedical sciences, and in English language and literature. Barnard is associated with three Nobel laureates: Other distinguished Barnard connected people include the following: Barnard is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commissio...
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. After the demerger of the Victoria University, it gained an independent university charter in 1904 as the Victoria University of Manchester.
Osmania University is a collegiate public state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, issued a firman calling for its creation on 29 August 1917. It is the third oldest university in southern India, and the first to be established in the erstwhile Kingdom of Hyderabad. It was the first Indian university to use Urdu as a language of instruction, although with English as a compulsory subject. As of 2012, the university hosts 3,700 international students from more than 80 nations.
The University of Burdwan is a public collegiate state university located in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 15 June 1960 with six graduate departments and 30 undergraduate colleges spread over three districts that come under the jurisdiction of the university. The university currently offers more than 30 undergraduate and 66 postgraduate courses.
Mendel University in Brno is located in Brno, Czech Republic. It was founded on 24 July 1919 on the basis of the former Tábor Academy. It now consists of five faculties and one institute - the Faculty of AgriSciences, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Faculty of Business and Economics, Faculty of Horticulture, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies and Institute of Lifelong Education. It is named since 1994 after Gregor Mendel, the botanist and "father of genetics", who was active in this city during his lifetime.
Boğaziçi University , also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and two schools offering undergraduate degrees, and six institutes offering graduate degrees. Traditionally, the language of instruction is English.
King Abdulaziz University is a public research university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1967 as a private university by a group of businessmen led by Muhammad Bakhashab and including author Hamza Bogary, it was named after the country's first monarch, King Abdulalziz ibn Saud. It was converted into a public university by King Faisal in 1974 and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in Saudi Arabia.
The University of Lviv , presently the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv , is the oldest institution of higher learning in present-day Ukraine, dating from 1661 when John II Casimir, King of Poland, granted it its first royal charter.
ShanghaiTech University is a municipal public science and engineering university in Shanghai, China. The university is founded by contracts between the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The university has been added into Chinese state Double First Class University Plan since February 2022.
The University of Louisville is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was one of the first city-owned public colleges in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General Assembly to be a "Preeminent Metropolitan Research University". It enrolls students from 118 of 120 Kentucky counties, all 50 U.S. states, and 116 countries around the world.
The Université du Québec is a system of ten provincially-run public universities in Quebec, Canada. Its headquarters are in Quebec City. The university coordinates 1400 programs for over 100,000 students. The government of Quebec founded the Université du Québec, a network of universities in several Quebec cities. In a similar fashion to other Canadian provinces, all universities in Quebec have since become public.
Xiamen University is a national public university located in Xiamen, Fujian, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University Plan.
Ankara University is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocational programs, 120 undergraduate programs and 110 graduate programs.
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat , India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after India's independence. It was later renamed after its benefactor Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the former ruler of Baroda State.
The University of Mazandaran is a state university located in Mazandaran province of Iran, headquartered in the city of Babolsar. The University of Mazandaran, currently the largest state higher education center in the north of Iran, and had formerly consisted of a number of tertiary education In 1979 the centers were officially merged to form what is now known as University of Mazandaran.
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry, it was renamed Drexel Institute of Technology in 1936, before assuming its current name in 1970.
The University of Gdańsk is a public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language.
The University of the Punjab , also referred to as Punjab University, is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the oldest and largest public sector university in Pakistan.
The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, or simply BOKU , founded in 1872, is an education and research centre for renewable resources in Vienna, Austria. BOKU combines expertise in the fields of natural sciences, engineering and biotechnology as well as social and economic sciences. In research and teaching, it focuses onthe conservation and development of protection for habitats, economy and living standardsthe management of natural resources and environmentthe protection of food and healthBOKU sees itself as an innovation leader in the green economy, with the goal of integrating sustainability into all processes in society.
Norman Finkelstein ranks among our Top Influential Biologists Today.
Queens College is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 countries.
Gadjah Mada University is a public research university located in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Officially founded on 19 December 1949, Gadjah Mada University is one of the oldest and largest institutions of higher education in the country, and has been credited as one of the best universities in Indonesia. In the 2023 QS World Universities Ranking, UGM is ranked 1st in Indonesia and 231st in the world.
The Faculty of Biology is one of the eleven faculties of the University of Freiburg in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of a strong life sciences network including institutions such as the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, the Bernstein Center Freiburg , the Center for Applied Biosciences and the Center for Biological Systems Analysis , which started operations in 2008 as offspring of the Freiburg Initiative for Systems Biology , funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research .
The Schola Medica Salernitana was a medieval medical school, the first and most important of its kind. Situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the south Italian city of Salerno, it was founded in the 9th century and rose to prominence in the 10th century, becoming the most important source of medical knowledge in Western Europe at the time.
Erasmus University Rotterdam is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist and theologian. Erasmus MC is the largest and one of the foremost academic medical centers and trauma centers in the Netherlands, whereas its economics and business school, Erasmus School of Economics and Rotterdam School of Management are well known in Europe.
The University of Western Australia is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital. UWA was established in 1911 by an act of the Parliament of Western Australia.
The Estonian University of Life Sciences is a public university located in Tartu, Estonia. Its roots trace back to 1802, when the Chair of Agriculture was founded in the University of Tartu. EMÜ is the 4th largest public university in Estonia.
