In the current issue According to the "THE World University Rankings," LMU ranks 32nd among the best universities worldwide. The ranking thus names LMU Germany's best university. TUM ranks 41st, taking second place among German institutions. Heidelberg University follows in 42nd place.
This makes LMU the best university in the European Union. The Swedish Karolinska Institute ranks second within the EU, ahead of TUM and Heidelberg University. In continental Europe, only ETH Zurich (14th place) performs better. The top 13 places are shared exclusively by American and British universities. Oxford University ranks first, ahead of Stanford and Harvard.
Two other university rankings place Munich universities at the top
Two other university rankings, at least within Germany, also show a similar ranking: The Academic Ranking of World Universities, the so-called Shanghai Ranking, also places LMU ahead of TUM and Heidelberg University in Germany. In a global comparison, however, the Munich universities only rank 51st and 54th, losing out to several competitors within the EU: the University of Paris-Saclay (14th place), the University of Copenhagen (33rd), the two Parisian universities, Université PSL (36th) and Sorbonne (39th), and the Karolinska Institute (45th). The top three places go to Harvard, Stanford, and Cambridge.
The ranking of the British higher education service provider QS Quacquarelli Symonds ranks the two Munich universities as Germany's best universities, although TUM ranks first in Germany and 50th worldwide, ahead of LMU in 63rd place. This ranking also ranks Heidelberg University as the third-best German educational institution and 64th internationally. TUM ranks as the best university in the European Union in this list. Between TUM and LMU are the EU universities Université PSL (52nd), Delft University of Technology (57th), École polytechnique (61st), and the University of Amsterdam (61st), which ranks equally.
LMU and TUM also at the forefront among university research institutions
The 2020 Nature Index measures the publication performance of research institutions and universities in leading scientific journals. Here, too, LMU and TUM occupy the top two places in Germany. Among all research institutions worldwide, LMU ranks 61st, and TUM 75th. Heidelberg University once again makes it onto the German podium, ranking 92nd internationally. Three German non-university research organizations achieved even better results: The Max Planck Society ranks third among the world's best research institutions, behind the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Harvard University. The Helmholtz Association ranks seventh, and the Leibniz Association 56th.
