Technion beats out Hebrew U in world ranking

The Technion — Israel Institute of Technology is the top academic institute in Israel, knocking the Hebrew University of Jerusalem off its perch, according to a global ranking published Monday.

The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities 2016 listed the Haifa-based Technion in 69th place out of 500 universities around the world. The Hebrew University came in at number 87 on the list.

Last year, the Hebrew University ranked 67th and the Technion 77th.

The report also boosted the Technion in its national ranking from second to first in Israel, while the Jerusalem-based Hebrew University dropped to second place.

Globally, Harvard University is the highest-ranking academic institute followed by Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, said ShanghaiRanking, an independent consultancy body behind the international review.

In January a survey determined, based on the number of times institutions of higher learning were cited in online encyclopedia Wikipedia, that Hebrew University is the 47th most influential institution in the world.