A leading UAE university has been named among the top 100 for business and economic studies in a global league table, outranking renowned institutions from the US, UK and China.
Abu Dhabi University was ranked 81st out of more than 1,000 institutions assessed in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026. The list comprises universities from 91 countries.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology claimed top spot in front of Stanford University. The US institutions were joined in the top five by China's Tsinghua University, the UK's University of Oxford and the University of California, Berkeley.
Abu Dhabi University was the best performer in the region in the business and economy category and was placed ahead of the likes of Penn State in the US, Beijing Institute of Technology, Durham University in the UK and Japan's Kyoto University.
The Times Higher Education subject rankings evaluated hundreds of universities across 11 core disciplines, including arts and humanities, law, engineering, medical and health and physical and social sciences. In the business and economics category, universities were judged on factors such as research quality, international outlook and teaching.
Abu Dhabi University was named the seventh best in the Arab world in the overall Times Education rankings, which were released late last year.
Sharjah shines in rankings
Meanwhile, the University of Sharjah enjoyed impressive results in the subject rankings, leading the UAE in four categories. It was the top UAE performer in social sciences – being named in the global 201-250 bracket – as well as arts and humanities, law and physical sciences.
"Securing the top position locally in strategic disciplines such as law, social sciences, physical sciences, and arts and humanities, in addition to our strong entry into the global top 200 in some fields, amounts to far more than mere numbers," said Prof Esameldin Agamy, Chancellor of the University of Sharjah.
"We will continue investing in scientific research, academic programmes and international partnerships to cement the University's status as a benchmark institution regionally and globally."
UAE universities rank high
There were notable successes for the country's universities in the 11 subjects assessed in the latest Times Education list. UAE University was placed in the 151-175 bracket for medical and health subjects, out of 1,230 universities.
Ajman University was ranked in the 126-50 bracket out of 830 universities in the education studies category, while both Abu Dhabi University and Khalifa University were in the 201-250 bracket out of 1,165 universities. Khalifa University was the UAE's best for engineering, being included in the 126-150 rankings from 1,555 universities in 98 countries.
US and UK lead the way
MIT was placed first in arts and humanities, business and economics and social sciences. Stanford University was ranked number one in education and law, Harvard University topped the list in engineering and life sciences, and the California Institute of Technology came out on top for physical sciences.
The other three subject tables were topped by UK institutions. The University of Oxford took top spot in computer science and medical and health, while the University of Cambridge overtook Stanford in psychology. Only Harvard, Stanford and Cambridge appear in the top 10 of all 11 subject rankings.
