Wrocław Medical University has moved up to the 451–500 band in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027. This is WMU’s best result in the history of the ranking, marking an improvement of one band compared with last year. WMU is the highest-ranked university in Poland, taking first place nationally.
This year’s THE World University Rankings include 2,297 universities worldwide. The ranking assesses institutions across five main areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
Research quality is WMU’s strongest area. In this pillar, THE examines not only publication citations but also research excellence and influence within the global scientific community. The university’s strong performance shows that research conducted at WMU is visible and used by other researchers.
At the same time, the university’s research environment score has risen steadily over the past few years. This pillar considers factors including research reputation, research productivity, and research income. In the 2027 edition, WMU scored 20.7 points in this area—almost twice its score four years earlier.
– This rise shows that sustained investment in research quality delivers results. We now want to go a step further by building strong international teams capable of contributing to global science and initiating and leading major research projects. A good example is RAPTOR-HF, a €30 million project we are implementing under Horizon Europe’s Teaming for Excellence programme, together with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the University of Oxford. Partnerships like these enable us to strengthen WMU’s research capacity, attract leading researchers, and build a centre in Wrocław capable of conducting world-class research. We have incorporated these goals into our application to the ministry’s Excellence Initiative – Research University programme (IDUB). We are building an environment that supports research, where excellence extends beyond individual leaders to the entire system supporting those who want to advance medicine. The clinical resources of the University Clinical Hospital—a major strength of our university—our international recognition, and our commitment to ensuring that everything we do serves patients form the foundations of our approach to becoming a research university. Wrocław has earned a strong position on Poland’s scientific map – emphasises Professor Piotr Ponikowski, Rector of WMU.
WMU’s rise in THE therefore represents more than a change in ranking position. It reflects the university’s direction of development: strengthening the quality and significance of its research, developing international teams, and bringing research ever closer to the education of future doctors and scientists.
“The quality of a medical university is also measured by how it prepares successive generations of doctors and scientists. We want students and doctoral candidates to learn evidence-based medicine from the outset, understand how scientific knowledge is generated, and have opportunities to participate in research. We educate skilled professionals who are also equipped to advance medicine—critical thinkers who embrace new technologies and can combine clinical practice with research.”
This year’s ranking results demonstrate the intensity of competition among universities worldwide. An institution’s position increasingly depends on the quality and influence of its research, its ability to create a supportive research environment, and its participation in the international scientific community, alongside the scale of its research activity.