ETH Zürich dropped one position to rank 12th globally in the 2027 university rankings released by Times Higher Education on September 30, 2026. Despite the slight dip caused by China’s Tsinghua University advancing to the 11th spot, ETH Zürich retains its position as the top-ranked university in continental Europe. University of Oxford remains the number-one institution worldwide, leading a top-ten group exclusively comprising British and American schools.
According to the magazine’s report, Tsinghua University climbed past the Swiss institution to secure the 11th spot as part of a broader upward trend for Asian higher education. Across the broader rankings, five European universities fell out of the top 200 for the 2027 list, while five Asian institutions moved into that tier.
At the very top of the table, the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom kept its place as the best university in the world. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton University, both based in the United States, retained the second and third positions respectively. The entire top ten remains exclusively occupied by British and American institutions.
Switzerland places a total of six institutions within the top 200 universities evaluated through 17 indicators spanning teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook, and industry. The Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Lausanne (EPFL) dropped one spot to rank 36th globally, maintaining its place alongside ETH Zürich in the top 100.
Among other Swiss institutions, the University of Basel climbed nine places to rank 111th.
Methodology and Contrasting Evaluations
The Times Higher Education metrics rely on 17 specific indicators grouped into five pillars: teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook, and industry income, covering roughly 2,000 institutions internationally. This methodology yields different placements compared to other major metrics, such as the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking), which placed ETH Zürich at 19th globally in its August 2026 release based on six research-focused criteria.
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