UCSB Remains Among the World’s Most Influential Research Universities

UC Santa Barbara ranks first among U.S. public universities, third among all U.S. institutions, and seventh worldwide for scientific impact in engineering and the physical sciences, according to the 2025 Leiden Rankings (Open Edition) released by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University in the Netherlands. The latest results mark the fifteenth consecutive year that UCSB has placed among the top two public universities nationally for scientific impact.

“These results affirm what we see every day at UC Santa Barbara: research that is not only prolific and impactful, but profoundly influential,” said Umesh Mishra, dean of The Robert Mehrabian College of Engineering. “Ranking first among U.S. public universities and among the very top institutions worldwide for scientific impact reflects the sustained excellence of our faculty and students and the extraordinary research culture they have built.”