ITS Research Intelligence

Fastest-Growing Research Universities

This ranking emphasizes publication and citation momentum while retaining a modest scale component so tiny starting values do not dominate.

Ranking table

The table is recalculated after database refreshes. Because citation and affiliation metadata change over time, the ranking is presented as a dated analytical snapshot rather than a permanent claim.

Rank	University	Country	Score	5-year works	5-year citations	Growth
#1	Zarqa University	Jordan	94.0	5,362	43,105	468.1%
#2	Western Caspian University	Azerbaijan	93.7	4,341	26,892	5,750.7%
#3	Azerbaijan State University of Economics	Azerbaijan	93.5	3,661	29,966	255.1%
#4	NIMS University	India	93.1	3,352	14,097	405.8%
#5	Urgench State University	Uzbekistan	93.0	3,885	8,600	381.8%
#6	Khazar University	Azerbaijan	92.9	2,717	16,459	871.6%
#7	Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau	Germany	92.9	2,918	12,089	780.7%
#8	Institute of Science Tokyo	Japan	92.6	3,023	6,507	13,477.3%
#9	Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University	India	92.5	2,067	12,296	247.1%
#10	Gulf University for Science & Technology	Kuwait	92.4	2,881	36,393	440.3%
#11	Ras al-Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University	United Arab Emirates	92.4	1,702	14,393	266.5%
#12	New Uzbekistan University	Uzbekistan	92.2	1,281	16,575	5,212.5%
#13	Tianmushan Laboratory	China	91.7	896	11,607	18,300.0%
#14	Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence	Germany	91.5	918	8,536	1,311.6%
#15	Maharishi University of Management and Technology	India	91.5	1,864	2,218	4,850.0%
#16	Vincennes University	United States	91.5	1,784	2,318	703.2%
#17	Shinawatra University	Thailand	91.5	1,181	4,648	873.3%
#18	Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health	Germany	91.3	600	13,298	513.0%
#19	Ahl Al Bayt University	Iraq	91.3	983	4,639	537.0%
#20	Trine University	United States	91.2	790	6,538	2,207.1%
#21	University of Religions and Denominations	Iran	91.1	860	4,537	274.6%
#22	Université Marie et Louis Pasteur	France	91.1	1,279	2,020	797.4%
#23	City St George's, University of London	United Kingdom	91.1	1,121	2,475	659.7%
#24	Eastern Institute of Technology	New Zealand	90.9	679	4,699	290.4%
#25	Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María	Ecuador	90.7	860	1,867	261.6%
#26	Université Bourgogne Europe	France	90.6	1,350	767	839.5%
#27	Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice	Poland	90.4	604	2,360	408.3%
#28	National Higher School of Statistics and Applied Economy	Algeria	90.4	558	2,534	211.6%
#29	Nam Can Tho University	Vietnam	90.3	512	2,684	975.7%
#30	Poornaprajna Institute of Management	India	90.3	656	1,664	1,853.3%
#31	Cornerstone University	United States	90.2	419	3,181	259.2%
#32	Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts	China	90.2	540	1,826	301.1%
#33	Institute of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	90.1	972	562	573.2%
#34	Western Mindanao State University	Philippines	90.1	523	1,749	302.4%
#35	Debark University	Ethiopia	90.0	446	1,919	315.6%
#36	Hult International Business School	United States	90.0	320	3,422	409.8%
#37	Mediterranean Institute of Management	Cyprus	90.0	299	3,495	782.1%
#38	Nanjing University of the Arts	China	89.9	491	1,334	293.8%
#39	University of the Potomac	United States	89.7	421	1,144	595.5%
#40	Wellspring University	Nigeria	89.7	349	1,582	784.4%
#41	Campbellsville University	United States	89.7	321	1,828	279.3%
#42	Amoud University	Somalia	89.6	300	1,725	434.2%
#43	University of Khorfakkan	United Arab Emirates	89.5	279	1,757	4,520.0%
#44	British University Vietnam	Vietnam	89.4	202	2,468	275.0%
#45	American InterContinental University	United States	89.3	279	1,161	689.7%
#46	Université de Garoua	Cameroon	89.3	336	820	1,215.8%
#47	Puntland State University	Somalia	89.3	191	2,202	235.1%
#48	Universiti Poly-Tech Malaysia	Malaysia	89.0	346	477	945.5%
#49	Paul University Awka	Nigeria	89.0	303	594	229.3%
#50	Universidad del Sol	Mexico	88.9	564	156	635.9%
#51	Baba Guru Nanak University	Pakistan	88.9	232	767	676.0%
#52	The Institute of History of The Academy of Sciences of The Republic of Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	88.9	302	457	232.3%
#53	NIILM University	India	88.9	361	320	683.8%
#54	Georgian American University	Georgia	88.8	208	794	496.0%
#55	Instituts Supérieurs des Professions Infirmières et Techniques de Santé	Morocco	88.8	2,451	12,452	441.8%
#56	Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences	India	88.8	221	651	451.7%
#57	Alexander College	Cyprus	88.7	121	1,737	733.3%
#58	Shri Jagannath Sanskrit University	India	88.7	253	434	554.6%
#59	Levinsky-Wingate Academic College	Israel	88.7	185	761	1,300.0%
#60	American International College	United States	88.6	233	751	317.5%
#61	LSPR Institute of Communication and Business	Indonesia	88.6	357	186	3,355.6%
#62	University of Teacher Education Fukuoka	Japan	88.6	175	678	213.5%
#63	Monroe University	United States	88.5	146	915	210.3%
#64	Badakhshan University	Afghanistan	88.5	184	538	605.9%
#65	Cambridge University Health Partners	United Kingdom	88.5	111	1,328	406.7%
#66	Universidad Politécnica de El Salvador	El Salvador	88.4	188	476	479.2%
#67	Institute of Applied Biochemistry	Japan	88.4	176	518	946.2%
#68	Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología	Costa Rica	88.4	276	211	854.2%
#69	Universitas Islam Internasional Darullughah Wadda'wah	Indonesia	88.4	265	220	1,284.6%
#70	Pillar College	United States	88.3	158	552	209.1%
#71	National-Louis University	Poland	88.3	191	383	1,600.0%
#72	Russian State University of Cinematography named after SA Gerasimov	Russia	88.3	250	199	276.7%
#73	Moscow University Touro	Russia	88.3	294	147	559.4%
#74	Sofia University	United States	88.2	128	662	244.0%
#75	Ravensbourne University London	United Kingdom	88.2	150	444	457.1%
#76	Baguio Central University	Philippines	88.2	222	208	1,040.0%
#77	Judson University	United States	88.1	139	473	277.8%
#78	Xiamen Nanyang University	China	88.1	120	567	600.0%
#79	SIMAD University	Somalia	88.1	1,001	7,030	456.9%
#80	Sai Nath University	India	88.1	142	404	585.7%
#81	Union Christian College	Philippines	88.1	165	305	344.0%
#82	Jami University	Afghanistan	88.0	202	197	1,637.5%
#83	Universidad Hipócrates	Mexico	88.0	243	136	673.9%
#84	Namangan davlat texnika universiteti	Uzbekistan	88.0	327	78	16,050.0%
#85	Bhattadev University	India	88.0	143	358	836.4%
#86	Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education	Pakistan	88.0	233	142	730.4%
#87	Virginia University of Lynchburg	United States	88.0	159	269	373.9%
#88	Maharana Pratap Horticultural University, Karnal	India	88.0	122	420	575.0%
#89	Hubei University of Automotive Technology	China	88.0	2,726	44,934	248.4%
#90	Regent College	Canada	87.9	154	262	223.5%
#91	Jain College of Engineering and Research	India	87.9	117	425	460.0%
#92	International American University	Saint Lucia	87.9	129	322	836.4%
#93	Bogdan Voda University	Romania	87.9	130	316	200.0%
#94	Monad University	India	87.9	186	162	495.5%
#95	Saidu Medical College	Pakistan	87.8	510	567	340.0%
#96	Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law	India	87.8	225	99	372.7%
#97	Vernon College	United States	87.8	118	320	327.8%
#98	Universidad Intercultural de las Nacionalidades y Pueblos Indígenas Amawtay Wasi	Ecuador	87.8	161	178	2,033.3%
#99	National American University	United States	87.7	111	336	830.0%
#100	Nîmes Université	France	87.7	414	28	950.0%

Transparent methodology

How ITS Research Score v3 is constructed

One formula applies to every index-ready institution, using the five most recent complete calendar years: 25% research output, 25% citations, 20% h-index and 5% i10-index (log-normalized so the largest universities do not dominate linearly), 15% citation impact (the institution’s percentile on citations per work, reduced below 500 works so small samples cannot win by chance), 5% publication growth and 5% international-collaboration share. When collaboration data is not yet available, the other weights are rescaled.

Data-quality controls: the unfinished current year is never counted, and a year in which recorded output jumps to more than three times the institution’s usual level while being at least 90% open access is treated as a bulk dataset or repository deposit and scored at the usual level. Raw data are kept and every adjustment is logged. Open-access share and topic diversity are published as separate rankings and do not affect the main score. Citation impact is not field-normalized.

These indicators assess research activity only. They do not measure teaching quality, student experience, employability, reputation, finances or accreditation. Missing data are left missing rather than fabricated.