November 21, 2025 – The 2025 Shanghai Ranking of Academic Subjects, published on November 20, places the Hebrew University 15th in the world in Mathematics, 16th in Communication, 23rd in Public Administration, and 34th in Law. The index ranks universities worldwide based on the quality of their research. In the overall ranking published earlier this year, the Hebrew University was ranked 88th in the world.  

This year’s ranking positions HU ahead of some of the world’s leading institutions in various fields. In Public Administration and Communication, HU surpassed Harvard. In Mathematics, it ranked above Berkeley, Columbia, and Duke, and in Communication, it ranked above Oxford.

According to Prof. Oron Shagrir, Hebrew University Rector, “Precisely at a time when Israeli academia faces boycotts and threats around the world, the Shanghai Ranking strengthens our standing internationally and affirms the quality of research and academic work in Israel in general and at the Hebrew University in particular. This is further proof of the important contribution of academia to Israeli society and to the world. I am proud of our researchers who continue to stand at the forefront of scientific discovery and advance global knowledge across diverse fields.” 

 “The Hebrew University’s ranking of 23rd in the Shanghai Ranking for Public Administration places our School of Public Policy and Governance at the forefront of global academic research in public administration and public policy,” says Prof. Galit Cohen-Blankshtain, Head of the HU Federmann School of Public Policy and Government. “This high ranking reflects research excellence in the field and the significant international impact our scholars have on this important area of knowledge, which seeks to understand and improve policy-making processes and their implementation. This achievement is especially notable in a period marked at times by a hostile atmosphere toward Israeli scholars.” 

About the Shanghai Rankings 

Since 2009 the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has been published and copyrighted by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Shanghai Ranking Consultancy is a fully independent organization on higher education intelligence and not legally subordinated to any universities or government agencies. 

ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Clarivate, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index – Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance of a university. More than 1800 universities are ranked by ARWU every year and the best 1,000 are published.