ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, has once again been recognized as the top university in continental Europe, according to the latest rankings from Times Higher
Education. The institution maintained its 11th-place position globally, solidifying its reputation as a leading academic and research institution.
Switzerland's second-highest-ranked university, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), moved up one spot from the previous year to secure 32nd place in the 2025 World University Rankings.
As in past years, American and British universities dominated the top spots, with Oxford University (UK) taking first place for the ninth consecutive year, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US) and Harvard University (US).
Despite ETH Zurich and EPFL’s high rankings, no other Swiss universities made it into the top 100. The University of Zurich (UZH) withdrew from the rankings in March, citing concerns that such evaluations create misleading incentives.
University rankings are based on 18 indicators, including teaching quality, research output, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. The 2025 rankings evaluated a total of 2,092 universities worldwide. Photo by ZachT, Wikimedia commons.