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China’s Zhejiang University tops Harvard in Nature Index world academic rankings

Mainland institutions dominate in 2026, accounting for nine of top 10 in list based on research output in high-quality academic publications

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Shi HuangPublished: 8:00pm, 12 Jun 2026Zhejiang University in China has overtaken Harvard University to become the top academic institution in the world, according to the 2026 Nature Index.

This is the first time Harvard has lost its top position in the rankings since the index’s inception in 2014.

Tsinghua University, also from China, was third.Advertisement

Chinese institutions dominated this year’s list, accounting for nine of the top 10 – up from eight in last year’s rankings.

Of the top 20, China has 17, with Stanford University No 12 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No 17.

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