The University of Kairouan has advanced by more than 30 places in the ranking of Arab universities published by the organization Times Higher Education, climbing to the 176th position in the latest edition of this ranking, that of 2027. The institution had made its first appearance there last year, in the 2026 edition.
The president of the University of Kairouan, Dr. Mohamed Ghandour, said on Friday that this progression reflects the upward momentum of the institution in international rankings. It is the result of the sustained efforts carried out by the entire university community, notably faculty, researchers, administrative staff, and students, to improve the university’s performance indicators and to strengthen the quality of teaching and scientific research.
He noted that the University of Kairouan’s entry into this ranking last year, followed by its progress this year, rests notably on the work done around several indicators, including scientific output. In this regard, the university has surpassed the threshold of 1,000 scientific publications in the past five years. It has also updated the institutional affiliations of its faculty and researchers in their publications, so that their work is properly accounted for in the university’s scientific output.
Dr. Ghandour added that in October of last year, the University of Kairouan also entered, for the first time, the global general ranking of Times Higher Education, where it positioned itself around the 1,800th place worldwide. According to him, this is an additional indicator of the progress of its visibility in international rankings.
He emphasized that the Times Higher Education ranking does not rely solely on scientific production, but also includes a set of indicators related to 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These cover, among other things, the quality of teaching, scientific research, renewable energy, environmental protection, and information security, as well as the university’s contribution to its socio-economic environment and to society.
Mohamed Ghandour finally stated that “the improvement of these indicators constitutes both a challenge and additional motivation for the university, which works to strengthen the quality of teaching, research, and innovation, to develop cooperation and international partnerships in order to consolidate its academic and scientific influence, to attract international students and researchers, and to further affirm its presence in global university rankings.”
