Israeli universities ranked among world’s top 100

JERUSALEM(Xinhua): For the first time, three Israeli universities are listed among the world’s top 100, according to a prestigious Chinese university’s ranking, which appeared Wednesday.

Shanghai Jiaotong University’s ranking, starting from 2003, examines 1,200 academic facilities annually and chooses the best 500.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) led the trio at 53rd place, Haifa’s Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology -- reached 78th place, and Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science came in under the wire at 93.

Tel Aviv University made just under the top 100 and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba made it into the top 400.

In specific fields, Weizmann is number 12 in the world in computer sciences, while Technion at 29 in chemistry and HU at 38 in sciences.

American universities made it into most of the top ten spots, led by Harvard, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The academic facilities receive their ranking according to six criteria, among which are the number of graduates and professors who have won Nobel prizes and Fields medals, and how often their researches are cited in professional literature.