Universität Heidelberg: Outstanding Placings in Shanghai Ranking of Academic Subjects
Clinical medicine and medical technology internationally in 18th position – top placements for biological sciences and human biological sciences
With clinical medicine and medical technology, Heidelberg University is among the best representatives of the medical sciences worldwide. In the 2025 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, both rank 18th internationally. Clinical medicine thus continues to hold the top position in Germany, while medical technology takes third place. The biological sciences are once again at the top of the list in Germany, ranking 39th worldwide.
Human biological sciences in Heidelberg are also among the “top 50” in the world in their subject area. Like the biological sciences, they are classed in the field of life sciences and, after jumping from the 51 to 75 ranking group, now rank 44th internationally, which means third place in Germany. The “top 100” subjects in the natural sciences include physics at Heidelberg University, which has moved up from the 76 to 100 ranking group to the 51 to 75 ranking group and now takes second place nationally.
The ranking of subjects appeared in November 2025 and is part of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, also called the Shanghai Ranking. The subjects are grouped into five academic fields and evaluated according to nine indicators. These include mainly publication data and the prizes and awards won at a university, as well as the number of most-cited researchers or editors in international journals, among other things. The individual indicators are applied in five different categories and are weighted differently depending on the subject.
In the overall Shanghai Ranking published in August this year, Heidelberg University took third place in Germany, ranking 16th in Europe and 51st internationally.
