- Rankings rise for the third consecutive year… Strengthen competitiveness through quality-focused research innovation

The University of Seoul announced it has ranked 9th in South Korea in the “2025 Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) Leiden Ranking,” released by the Centre at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

This result stems from achieving an 8.3% in the “Top 10% Paper Ratio,” which indicates the quality level of research papers.

The Leiden Ranking is a global university evaluation that objectively measures research quality by assessing institutions’ research output based on citation impact. It is considered a highly credible assessment for verifying a university’s research capabilities, as it excludes qualitative factors, such as reputation or size. It ranks institutions solely on their pure research performance.

Its 2025 assessment covered 1,594 universities worldwide that published more than 800 international papers between 2020 and 2023.

Particularly noteworthy is the steep upward trajectory of the University of Seoul. In the last three years, the university has consistently risen in rank: 23rd in 2023 → 13th in 2024 → 9th in 2025. It demonstrates a clear growth in research capability.

This is highly significant, as it indicates that the university is achieving qualitative growth through the continuous enhancement of its research competitiveness, demonstrating strengths in research efficiency and competitiveness and producing high-level academic achievements.

President Yongkul Won of the University of Seoul stated, “We will continue to expand our core research achievements with both academic depth and social impact and remain focused on enhancing the university’s competitiveness through high-quality growth.”