Top research institutions in Afghanistan
Kabul University ranks first in Afghanistan on research quality in 2022–2025 (#7,981 worldwide), followed by Nangarhar University and Kardan University.
Ranked by research quality, 2022–2025
| # | Institution | World rank | Top-10% rate | Works | All time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kabul UniversityUniversity · Kabul | #7,981 | 10.4% | 1,193 | #1 |
| 2 | Nangarhar UniversityUniversity · Jalalabad | #10,279 | 14.5% | 332 | #3 |
| 3 | Kardan UniversityUniversity · Kabul | #13,397 | 21.7% | 145 | #5 |
| 4 | Kandahar UniversityUniversity · Kandahar | #14,292 | 22.6% | 207 | #4 |
| 5 | Polytechnical University of KabulUniversity · Kabul | #15,935 | 17.4% | 102 | #10 |
| 6 | Kabul Education UniversityUniversity · Kabul | #16,277 | 8.9% | 249 | #8 |
| 7 | Herat UniversityUniversity · Herat | #17,218 | 12.6% | 340 | #2 |
| 8 | World Health Organization - AfghanistanGovernment institution · Kabul | #17,343 | 18.8% | 135 | #6 |
| 9 | Paktia UniversityUniversity · Gardez | #17,408 | 10.5% | 114 | #11 |
| 10 | Bakhtar UniversityUniversity · Kabul | #17,748 | 13.9% | 92 | #7 |
| 11 | Balkh UniversityUniversity · Mazari Sharif | #18,262 | 11.3% | 167 | #12 |
| 12 | Salam UniversityUniversity · Kabul | #20,319 | 10.8% | 133 | #14 |
| 13 | Ghazni UniversityUniversity · Ghazni | #20,702 | 13.3% | 75 | — |
| 14 | Kabul Medical UniversityUniversity · Kabul | #22,344 | 9.9% | 146 | #9 |
| 15 | Khost UniversityUniversity · Khōst | #22,793 | 12.6% | 138 | #17 |
| 16 | Dawat UniversityUniversity · Kabul | #23,353 | 6.9% | 80 | #15 |
| 17 | Badakhshan UniversityUniversity · Fayzabad | #23,881 | 17.4% | 110 | #19 |
| 18 | Takhar UniversityUniversity · Taloqan | #24,237 | 18.7% | 93 | #18 |
| 19 | Baghlan UniversityUniversity · Pul-e Khumrī | #26,061 | 11.9% | 67 | — |
| 20 | Bamyan UniversityUniversity · Bāmyān | #26,437 | 10.2% | 101 | #20 |
Institutions above the volume floor, ranked within Afghanistan on the quality composite for 2022–2025; research measures only, not teaching. The tick on each rate track is the world’s rate in this record, 16.5% — teal above it, red below; bars are scaled to the largest institution on this page.
Size against quality inside Afghanistan
The upper left is the interesting corner: institutions that publish less than the national giants and land more of it in the world top 10%.
above the meannear itbelow it
One dot per institution in the table above.