The European University Institute is the highest-ranked institution in the European Union for political sciences in the 2026 ShanghaiRanking Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. It places 11th in the world, having ranked 6th last year, and remains among the highest-placed institutions in Europe.
The Institute performs best on international collaboration, which measures the share of an institution's publications written with co-authors based in other countries. The EUI scores higher on this indicator than any other institution in the world top 11 for political sciences, and well ahead of the nine United States institutions in that group.
The work behind the result comes from across the Institute. Political scientists at the EUI work in the Department of Political and Social Sciences, in the research programmes of the Robert Schuman Centre, at the Florence School of Transnational Governance, and in the Max Weber Programme for Postdoctoral Studies.
"Remaining the highest-ranked institution in the European Union for Political Science reflects the strength of the research carried out across the EUI," said Professor Arnout van de Rijt, Head of the Department of Political and Social Sciences. "It speaks to the excellence of political science scholarship both at the department as well as in the wider community across the Institute and the research environment we build together."
Political sciences is one of five EUI subjects in this year's tables, alongside law in 33rd place, public administration in 36th, and economics and sociology both in the world's top 100.
ShanghaiRanking is an independent global ranking system for universities. Its Global Ranking of Academic Subjects assesses institutions across 57 disciplines, drawing on publication and citation data for the period 2021 to 2025 alongside indicators of academic recognition.
The EUI congratulates the faculty, researchers, and staff across the Institute whose work stands behind this result. Their research, teaching, and public engagement continue to shape the Institute's standing internationally.