The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens ranks first among all Greek universities in both official Webometrics rankings published in July 2026 by Isidro F. Aguillo of the Cybermetrics Lab, the research unit of the Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos at Spain’s Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. This is a significant dual international distinction, which simultaneously confirms the institution’s broad digital and academic reach and the particularly high impact of its research work. In the main, multi-criteria “Ranking Web of Universities (webometrics.info)” the University of Athens ranks 245th worldwide, placing it among the top 250 universities in the world. In the “Transparent Ranking of Universities OpenAlex,” it ranks 152nd globally, just two spots away from the global Top 150. In both cases, it ranks ahead of all other Greek universities.
In the official public ranking, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is ranked 245th globally and 1st in Greece. It is followed by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 293rd place and the National Technical University of Athens in 477th place and 3rd in Greece.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Table 2: The rankings of Greek universities in the Web of Universities-Webometrics.info Ranking
Source: figshare website
Statement by the Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Prof. Gerasimos Siasos
“The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens’ dual top ranking among Greek universities in the two official Webometrics rankings constitutes an exceptionally significant international distinction for our institution and confirms in the clearest and most well-documented way the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens’ leading position in Greek higher education and its strong presence on the international academic and research scene.
The congratulations and praise rightfully belong first and foremost to our University’s research community, which, through its consistent dedication and scientific excellence, produces high-quality research with significant international impact. They also belong to the administrative staff, who work tirelessly to support academic and research activities, as well as to promote, dissemination, and international promotion of the University’s work.
This new distinction fills us with pride and, at the same time, it reinforces our collective responsibility and the steadfast commitment of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens to continuous improvement, international outreach, open science, high quality in education and research, and an even broader dissemination of its academic work throughout society. We continue with confidence, consistency, and dedication to our mission.”
Table 3: The top ten universities worldwide in the Web of Universities Ranking—Webometrics.info
Source: figshare website
The significance of this achievement is even greater because the two rankings assess different aspects of the universities’ activities. The Ranking Web – Webometrics.info ranking evaluates a multidimensional profile that combines international online influence, research excellence, and scientific openness. The Transparent Ranking, on the other hand, focuses exclusively on international research influence, as reflected in the number of papers ranked in the top 1% and 10% of the most-cited publications. The University of Athens’ top ranking in both of these distinct methodological frameworks lends this distinction particular weight and clear strategic significance.
This dual distinction is particularly significant because the University of Athens ranks first in Greece in both a comprehensive evaluation system and a strictly bibliometric index of top research influence. This achievement is a testament to the University of Athens’ international recognition, scientific outreach, open access, and systematic production of high-impact knowledge. More specifically:
• The University of Athens is the only Greek university ranked among the global Top 250 in the main Ranking Web list in the July 2026 edition, a result that reflects a strong combination of international online influence, open dissemination of knowledge, and research excellence.
• In the Transparent Ranking, it is ranked 152nd, just two spots below the Top 150 and 184 spots higher than the second-ranked Greek university.
• It ranks first in two different methodologies, a fact that reinforces the credibility of the overall picture.
• The high ranking in the main classification is linked to the quality and international impact of the institution’s digital and scientific footprint, rather than to the aesthetics or traffic of its website.
• Transparent Ranking specifically highlights research output that ranks among the top in terms of international bibliographic influence and confirms that the University of Athens’ research output is not only substantial in volume, but also includes a significant number of works with exceptionally high international impact and influence.
The Ranking Web of Universities–Webometrics.info ranking has been published since 2004 and is primarily intended to promote open access to the knowledge produced by universities. It is not merely a ranking of websites and does not evaluate a website’s design, usability, or traffic. It uses online and bibliometric indicators as evidence of an institution’s overall international presence, activity, relevance, and impact. The July 2026 edition covers more than 32,000 higher education institutions from over 200 countries. The publicly available dataset lists the top 15 institutions per country. The final score is a composite score; the variables are logarithmically normalized and combined according to the specified weighting system.
Table 1: Ranking Criteria for the Web of Universities—Webometrics.info
Source: figshare website
The methodology acknowledges that scientific output is a central component of university performance, but at the same time seeks to reflect the broader dissemination of knowledge, the social and economic relevance, and the international impact of an institution’s activities. Consistent use of a single primary domain is particularly important, as fragmentation across multiple domains can reduce recorded visibility
The “Transparent Ranking of Universities” is a specialized bibliometric initiative of the Cybermetrics Lab. The July 2026 edition is based on the OpenAlex open database and ranks institutions according to the number of their papers included among the most-cited publications internationally. The data were collected via the public API of the OpenAlex database during the first week of July 2026. The search was conducted based on each university’s ROR institutional identifier and covers the period from 2021 to 2025. Approximately 17,400 institutions were examined, of which 14,950 had at least one paper in the top 10% of the most-cited papers.
The primary criterion for the ranking is the number of papers in the top 1% of the most-cited publications from 2021 to 2025. A secondary criterion is the number of papers in the top 10% of the most-cited publications for the same period.
In this ranking, the University of Athens ranks 152nd globally and 1st in Greece, with 1,641 papers in the top 1% and 9,862 papers in the top 10% of the most-cited publications. The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki follows in 336th place, with 859 and 6,892 papers, respectively. The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has approximately 91% more papers in the top 1% and 43% more in the top 10% than the second-ranked Greek institution, a fact that highlights the breadth of its research excellence in this specific indicator.
Table 4: The Position of Greek Universities in the Transparent Ranking
Source: figshare website
Note: The table includes Greek public universities and ASPETE listed in this edition. The full dataset also includes military academies, private colleges, research organizations, and other institutions based in Greece, which are not included here because the focus is on the comparative standing of Greek universities.
The Transparent Ranking is not a general evaluation of all university missions. It is a targeted indicator of research influence and, more specifically, of an institution’s ability to produce work with exceptionally high international impact.
Table 5: The top ten universities worldwide in the Transparent Ranking
Source: figshare website
