The Hardman Rankings

← World University Rankings 2026

McMaster University

CanadaROR 02fa3aq29
=222
World University Rankings 2026 · 90% range 102–558 of 1,240 · score 50.2
Research Index =121

How it scores

Research
91
Alumni outcomes
42
Admissions & earnings
est.

Research and Alumni outcomes are percentiles among 1,240 universities; alumni outcomes are counted per student. Admissions & earnings is the position among universities in the same country.

No official admissions or earnings data is used for this university yet. Its in-country score is estimated from its standing among its own country’s universities on the global measures.

Admissions, outcomes and alumni

Internationally notable alumni (Wikidata)
18 src
Heads of state or government (Wikidata)
1 src
Students (undergraduate / total)
31,936 / 37,579

Each figure links to its source. Admissions and earnings figures are comparable only within a country.

Research Index

A · Quality
85.7
B · Strength
88.8

Percentiles among 1,305 ranked universities. Rank on quality alone: =169. On strength alone: 147. The Research Index scores research only; admissions, earnings and alumni outcomes are scored in the overall ranking where data exists.

The numbers behind it (2020–2023)

Papers in the top 10% of their field
12.9% (12.4%–13.5%)
Papers in the top 1% of their field
1.6% (1.4%–1.9%)
Top-10% papers (fractional count)
1,157
All papers (fractional count)
8,950
International co-authored
56.4%
Open access
63.5%
Papers from 2020–23 since retracted
12 (0.50 per 1,000)

Core publications, fractional counting, field-normalised citation shares. Brackets show Leiden’s stability interval. Collaboration and open-access shares use full counting and aren’t field-normalised. Retraction counts come from the Retraction Watch database and include publishers’ mass retractions as well as honest-error retractions; a retraction is not by itself evidence of misconduct, and the count is never scored.

By field

Biomedical & health sciences45range 31–64 of 1,671
Life & earth sciences=584range 438–713 of 1,092
Mathematics & computer science=130range 75–254 of 1,391
Physical sciences & engineering=410range 283–570 of 1,742
Social sciences & humanities=245range 153–360 of 1,262

Position over time

top 10%2006–2009: 117 of 5712020–2023: 121 of 1,305

The same method applied to each 4-year publication window. The number of ranked universities grows from period to period, so position is shown as a share of the field.

How other rankings place it

=121Research Index 2026
–QS 2027 (not in top 100)
–THE 2027 (not in top 100)
–ARWU 2026 (not in top 100)

Other rankings are cited for comparison. The Research Index measures research only; QS and THE also use reputation surveys and figures universities submit, and ARWU counts prize winners and total output.

Prize winners

Alumni laureates
2
Staff laureates
1

Alumni: 2 Nobel. Most recent: Donna Strickland (Nobel Physics, 2018), Myron Scholes (Nobel Economics, 1997). Counted from Wikidata (CC0). Alumni laureates count toward the overall ranking per student (10 of 65 global weight points); staff laureates are shown for context only.