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Subfield · Political Science and International Relations

Top Political Science and International Relations Research Institutions

University of Oxford ranks first in 2022–2025, out of 1,201 ranked institutions.

Composite score: field-normalised excellence, output and total citations weighted 50 / 30 / 20, each as a percentile so no single heavy-tailed measure dominates. Floor: 40 fractional works in this field.

Ranked by research quality, 2022–2025

#InstitutionScoreTop-10% rateWorksCitationsAll time
1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom · Oxford 100.0 27.2% 1k 3.3k#2
2 European University InstituteItaly · Florence 90.2 40.5% 404 2.2k#3
3 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom · London 84.5 30.4% 615 2.3k#1
4 University of OsloNorway · Oslo 80.4 37.1% 483 1.6k#15
5 University College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 77.3 30.1% 578 2k#11
6 Leiden UniversityNetherlands · Leiden 74.7 32.0% 524 2.2k#24
7 University of AmsterdamNetherlands · Amsterdam 72.6 34.3% 464 1.9k#8
8 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom · London 70.7 26.6% 731 1.7k#18
9 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom · Cambridge 69.0 20.7% 852 1.6k#10
10 University of BolognaItaly · Bologna 67.5 32.8% 369 1.1k—
11 University of ViennaAustria · Vienna 66.2 22.7% 546 1.4k#50
12 Aarhus UniversityDenmark · Aarhus 65.0 24.8% 573 1.4k#27
13 University of GothenburgSweden · Gothenburg 63.8 44.0% 224 1.7k#47
14 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom · Manchester 62.8 28.4% 461 1.4k#14
15 ETH ZurichSwitzerland · Zurich 61.8 48.6% 125 968#77
16 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom · Edinburgh 60.9 27.1% 470 1.2k#19
17 University of HelsinkiFinland · Helsinki 60.0 25.9% 498 1.1k#72
18 The University of MelbourneAustralia · Melbourne 59.2 23.8% 478 1.1k#54
19 Tampere UniversityFinland · Tampere 58.5 42.7% 224 963—
20 University of TorontoCanada · Toronto 57.8 24.9% 546 1.2k#16
21 Stanford UniversityUnited States · Stanford 57.1 29.0% 312 1.2k#4
22 University of ZurichSwitzerland · Zurich 56.4 28.5% 319 979#32
23 University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom · Glasgow 55.8 27.9% 392 993#29
24 Australian National UniversityAustralia · Canberra 55.2 23.8% 557 1.1k#17
25 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany · Munich 54.6 25.6% 353 894#80
26 Maastricht UniversityNetherlands · Maastricht 54.1 38.4% 205 963#84
27 University of GroningenNetherlands · Groningen 53.5 39.3% 262 933#82
28 The University of SydneyAustralia · Sydney 53.0 21.2% 408 767#55
29 University of LausanneSwitzerland · Lausanne 52.5 30.9% 228 1.1k—
30 Utrecht UniversityNetherlands · Utrecht 52.0 25.7% 392 1.1k#42
31 Lund UniversitySweden · Lund 51.6 33.1% 313 1.1k#78
32 Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands · Nijmegen 51.1 34.0% 226 819#79
33 University of CopenhagenDenmark · Copenhagen 50.7 29.7% 390 1.2k#51
34 Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinGermany · Berlin 50.3 25.5% 318 728#96
35 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States · Berkeley 49.9 24.9% 324 1.8k#5
36 Georgetown UniversityUnited States · Washington 49.5 18.2% 406 922#33
37 University of WarsawPoland · Warsaw 49.1 13.4% 1.2k 1.1k—
38 University of SussexUnited Kingdom · Brighton 48.7 31.3% 238 1.1k#36
39 Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido CarliItaly · Rome 48.3 40.7% 137 507—
40 University of BirminghamUnited Kingdom · Birmingham 48.0 22.5% 405 882#21
41 Freie Universität BerlinGermany · Berlin 47.6 23.3% 472 842#37
42 University of SheffieldUnited Kingdom · Sheffield 47.3 30.8% 247 838#20
43 Deakin UniversityAustralia · Burwood 47.0 28.9% 289 709—
44 Goethe University FrankfurtGermany · Frankfurt am Main 46.6 22.6% 352 938#83
45 KU LeuvenBelgium · Leuven 46.3 26.8% 360 852#56
46 University of BristolUnited Kingdom · Bristol 46.0 28.5% 274 757#35
47 Stockholm UniversitySweden · Stockholm 45.7 32.5% 261 982#59
48 Tsinghua UniversityChina · Beijing 45.4 37.1% 177 787—
49 Université Libre de BruxellesBelgium · Brussels 45.1 33.6% 257 739—
50 University of BergenNorway · Bergen 44.8 34.0% 197 694—
51 University of Hong KongHong Kong · Pok Fu Lam 44.6 34.1% 286 1k#74
52 Uppsala UniversitySweden · Uppsala 44.3 29.9% 284 913#97
53 University of BathUnited Kingdom · Bath 44.0 39.3% 134 714—
54 Cornell UniversityUnited States · Ithaca 43.7 23.9% 301 740#23
55 Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNetherlands · Amsterdam 43.5 27.9% 257 802#86
56 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom · Coventry 43.2 24.8% 324 965#26
57 University of MichiganUnited States · Ann Arbor 43.0 16.7% 414 872#7
58 Princeton UniversityUnited States · Princeton 42.7 22.8% 307 1k#13
59 Peking UniversityChina · Beijing 42.5 26.6% 271 931—
60 Columbia UniversityUnited States · New York 42.3 21.0% 344 794#6
61 University of MilanItaly · Milan 42.0 25.0% 308 822—
62 Zhejiang UniversityChina · Hangzhou 41.8 43.0% 148 715—
63 University of ChicagoUnited States · Chicago 41.6 19.0% 505 691#12
64 Institut d'Etudes Politiques de ParisFrance · Paris 41.3 14.4% 466 681—
65 Queen Mary University of LondonUnited Kingdom · London 41.1 25.2% 303 739#68
66 University of BremenGermany · Bremen 40.9 28.4% 247 553—
67 Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaSpain · Cerdanyola del Vallès 40.7 24.9% 268 767—
68 Arizona State UniversityUnited States · Tempe 40.5 25.0% 269 813#76
69 National University of SingaporeSingapore · Singapore 40.3 27.9% 311 935#61
70 Renmin University of ChinaChina · Beijing 40.1 30.9% 212 673—
71 Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom · Durham 39.9 22.6% 300 931#58
72 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland · Krakow 39.7 10.1% 1.2k 631—
73 Roskilde UniversityDenmark · Roskilde 39.5 33.2% 220 634—
74 Universität HamburgGermany · Hamburg 39.3 18.1% 370 584—
75 Hebrew University of JerusalemIsrael · Jerusalem 39.1 22.8% 288 708—
76 Erasmus University RotterdamNetherlands · Rotterdam 38.9 34.2% 182 627—
77 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa · Johannesburg 38.7 30.8% 319 699—
78 Dublin City UniversityIreland · Dublin 38.6 26.7% 187 482—
79 Yale UniversityUnited States · New Haven 38.4 13.9% 452 963#9
80 New York UniversityUnited States · New York 38.2 19.6% 349 923#25
81 Vrije Universiteit BrusselBelgium · Brussels 38.0 36.5% 196 782—
82 University of IndonesiaIndonesia · Depok 37.9 14.8% 966 956—
83 University College DublinIreland · Dublin 37.7 29.3% 177 502—
84 The University of QueenslandAustralia · Brisbane 37.5 30.1% 231 627#98
85 University of British ColumbiaCanada · Vancouver 37.3 21.4% 287 638#28
86 Monash UniversityAustralia · Melbourne 37.2 25.9% 249 602—
87 Johannes Gutenberg University MainzGermany · Mainz 37.0 26.4% 164 484—
88 Central European UniversityAustria · Vienna 36.9 28.3% 202 565—
89 University of NottinghamUnited Kingdom · Nottingham 36.7 26.6% 238 606#49
90 University of KonstanzGermany · Konstanz 36.5 36.1% 146 756#65
91 National Research University Higher School of EconomicsRussia · Moscow 36.4 18.3% 610 884—
92 Copenhagen Business SchoolDenmark · Copenhagen 36.2 21.1% 262 536—
93 University of ExeterUnited Kingdom · Exeter 36.1 23.6% 264 590#67
94 WZB Berlin Social Science CenterGermany · Berlin 35.9 40.7% 95 497#57
95 The University of Texas at AustinUnited States · Austin 35.8 18.0% 326 612#43
96 University of LeedsUnited Kingdom · Leeds 35.6 24.5% 258 676#52
97 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States · Chapel Hill 35.5 16.3% 293 638#30
98 University of YorkUnited Kingdom · York 35.3 26.0% 213 581#92
99 University of California, Los AngelesUnited States · Los Angeles 35.2 23.6% 239 701#22
100 Corvinus University of BudapestHungary · Budapest 35.1 29.2% 195 400—

institutions ranked worldwide in Political Science and International Relations (1,201). rank on the composite score within the stated pool. The score track runs 0 to 100; the rate track carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field.

How spread out this pool is

Every row above on one axis — one tick each, right is a higher score. A field where the top few are far clear of everyone and one that runs down evenly look identical as a table.

35 – 38: 21 places38 – 42: 16 places42 – 45: 13 places45 – 48: 11 places48 – 51: 8 places51 – 55: 6 places55 – 58: 6 places58 – 61: 4 places61 – 64: 3 places64 – 68: 3 places68 – 71: 2 places71 – 74: 1 places74 – 77: 1 places77 – 81: 2 places81 – 84: 0 places84 – 87: 1 places87 – 90: 1 places90 – 94: 0 places94 – 97: 0 places97 – 100: 1 places35100

One bar per band of score, counting the rows on this page.

Ranked by volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Human Growth FoundationUnited States 1.3k works
  2. 2 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland 1.2k works
  3. 3 University of WarsawPoland 1.2k works
  4. 4 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 1k works
  5. 5 Weatherford CollegeUnited States 1k works
  6. 6 University of IndonesiaIndonesia 966 works
  7. 7 Institut Agama Islam Negeri BengkuluIndonesia 908 works
  8. 8 Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland 878 works
  9. 9 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 852 works
  10. 10 Moscow State Institute of International RelationsRussia 762 works
  11. 11 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 731 works
  12. 12 University of ŁódźPoland 677 works
  13. 13 Padjadjaran UniversityIndonesia 642 works
  14. 14 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 638 works
  15. 15 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom 615 works

Political Science and International Relations by country