Semmelweis University, which was ranked in 12 subjects last year, now appears in 13 fields in the latest (2026–2027) edition of U.S. News’ Best Global Universities rankings. It has consistently ranked highest on the Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems list for several years, maintaining its position among the world’s top 50 institutions — this time coming in at 38th place.
Semmelweis University has managed to move up in this year’s rankings in several fields: in Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Medical Imaging, it improved by 29 places to rank 145th. In Clinical Medicine, it moved up 17 places to 164th; and in Pharmacology and Toxicology, it climbed 30 places to 186th.
The university also made it into the top 200 in the Cell Biology rankings, coming 194th. It showed the greatest improvement in the Biology & Biochemistry rankings, climbing 125 places to reach 285th position.
The subjects of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (211th), Surgery (212th), Oncology (245th), and Neuroscience and Behavior (296th) also reached the top 300. Molecular Biology and Genetics ranked 305th, while Psychiatry/Psychology was listed as 424th.
Semmelweis University is placed highest among the region’s universities in several subject-specific rankings, including Cell Biology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging, as well as Surgery. Apart from the subjects Chemistry and Psychiatry/Psychology, Semmelweis University is the only Hungarian institution of higher education to appear on each of these lists or is ranked highest among them.
Semmelweis University finished in 546th place on the Best Global Universities list, moving up 16 places since last year. Eötvös Loránd University was the highest-ranked Hungarian university, coming in at 507th place. Smaller, more specialized universities are at a disadvantage in the global, aggregate rankings due to size-dependent indicators. However, Semmelweis University ranked highest among Hungarian medical schools in this ranking as well.
The top three spots on the list are held by Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Stanford University.
The number one ranking in the United States
U.S. News & World Report is the longest-running and best-known higher education ranking organization in the United States, and it was the first American publisher to enter the global university rankings sector in 2014. Their latest international higher education rankings feature the top 2,250 universities from 105 countries around the world. The lists are based on 13 indicators selected by U.S. News to measure global research performance, as well as the weighting of those indicators.
Ádám Szabó
Translation: Judit Dőtsch
Photos by Bálint Barta – Semmelweis University (illustration)
