Nazarbayev University enters world elite for Biomedical and Health Sciences in the Leiden Rankings, DKNews.kz reports.
Nazarbayev University (NU) stands as the leading institution in Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region in the internationally respected Leiden University Ranking 2025, which focuses exclusively on research excellence.
In the Open Edition of the Leiden Rankings, Biomedical and Health Sciences subject is ranked 39-44 range globally, alongside world elite institutions such as Cornell, King's College, University College London and University of California - Davis. This is based on the proportion of publications among the top 10% most cited worldwide (the scientific impact indicator).
NU’s strong performance spans all our disciplines. In the Traditional Edition, NU ranks 199 globally for Social Sciences and Humanities and 483 for Mathematics and Computer Science. Physical Sciences and Engineering also feature in the rankings.
The Leiden Ranking, developed by the University of Leiden, is known for its research data-driven methodology, providing an even playing field to young and old institutions. Unlike other university rankings, it focuses solely on research performance by evaluating universities on scientific impact, international collaboration, open-access publishing, and gender diversity in authorship, without relying on reputation surveys or teaching metrics.
In this year’s rankings, just over 1,500 institutions worldwide qualified for the Traditional Edition and 2,800 for the Open Edition, making NU’s success even more remarkable.
The NU President, Prof Waqar Ahmad noted: “For a 15 year old university, we are delighted that all our subject areas are featured in these demanding rankings. This success is a testament to the university’s drive to be a hub for world-class research and innovation, at the service of Kazakhstan and the region. Our research performance is improving on every indicator.'
Professor Ahmad also noted that, in support of this research drive, the University has announced 200 fully funded doctoral scholarships.
In October 2025, NU rose 100 places in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (now 401-500) and has three subjects included in the Shanghai Rankings. In all three of these influential rankings, NU stands as the leading university in Central Asia and the Caucasus region.
