The 2026 Times Higher Education rankings place the California Institute of Technology at the top of the world’s best universities for physical sciences, followed by Harvard and Stanford universities in a joint second position. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton University round out the top five, underscoring the strong dominance of United States institutions, alongside leading UK and European universities.

The rankings evaluate performance across teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement and international outlook.

In Kenya, the University of Nairobi is ranked 1,251 out of 1,497 universities globally, with an overall score ranging between 9.1 and 20.8.

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The results highlight persistent gaps in global research capacity and investment in science education.