Discover the world’s most competitive universities for fully funded PhD positions with the a-index World University Rankings 2025. Now in its second year, the a-index ranks over 800 universities across 33 countries. The United States is the most represented, with over 200 ranked institutions, followed by the United Kingdom with 90.
For the second consecutive year, ETH Zurich holds its position as the world’s toughest university. Stanford University climbs five places to take second, while MIT and the University of Cambridge rank third and fourth, respectively. Harvard University rounds out the top five.
No universities found.