Eight Polish universities were included in the prestigious group of one thousand listed in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, known as the Shanghai ranking. The Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań was placed on the 801-900 positions.

The list of the best universities in the world is opened by: Harvard University, Stanford University and Cambridge University. Among Polish universities, the highest ranked is the University of Warsaw (places 301-400), followed by the Jagiellonian University (401-500). Further places were taken by the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków (701-800), the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the Gdańsk University of Technology and the Warsaw University of Technology (801-900), as well as the Medical University of Warsaw and the Medical University of Silesia (901-1000).

The universities with Nobel laureates or Fields Medal winners and a high number of citations are ranked the highest in the Shanghai ranking.