University of Oulu among the world’s top 500 in the prestigious Shanghai ranking

University of Oulu was ranked 401–500 in the Shanghai ranking, the same as in 2025. Among Finnish universities, University of Oulu shared third–fourth place with Aalto University. A total of seven Finnish universities were ranked among the world’s top 1,000.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), also known as the Shanghai ranking, is one of the best-known international university rankings. This year, more than 2,500 universities were ranked, with the best 1,000 published in the ranking.

The indicators used in the ranking include the number of research articles, the number of Highly Cited Researchers, the number of articles published in Nature and Science, and Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals won by alumni and staff.

Harvard University in the United States topped the ranking. Stanford University came second, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in third place, both also located in the United States.

Learn more about the Academic Ranking of World Universities on the ShanghaiRanking website.

Created 18.8.2026 | Updated 18.8.2026