Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) has been recognised as the highest-ranked private university in Bangladesh in the Research.com Best Universities in Bangladesh 2025/2026 Ranking.

According to the ranking, IUB secured third place among all Bangladeshi universities and was ranked 2,137th globally. The university was listed with two scholars, 332 publications, and a combined H-index of 118. In the national ranking, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University placed first, followed by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in second position.

Research.com is an international research portal that evaluates universities and scientists across a range of academic disciplines using bibliometric indicators, including publication and citation data sourced from databases such as OpenAlex and CrossRef.

The ranking also highlighted IUB’s performance in Microbiology, where the university was ranked first in Bangladesh and 527th globally. The profile lists Professor Dr Shah M Faruque as the institution’s featured scientist in the discipline, with 153 publications and a D-index of 66.

The latest recognition follows IUB’s recent performance in the Nature Index institutional rankings, where it was ranked the leading private university in Bangladesh and secured the top position nationally in the Physical Sciences category. With its latest Research.com recognition in Microbiology, IUB is now acknowledged by two international research ranking platforms as Bangladesh’s leading institution in two major scientific disciplines.

IUB Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M Tamim said the results demonstrate the university’s growing research visibility across multiple scientific fields.

“These results show that IUB’s research strength is becoming visible across more than one scientific field. Our focus will remain on supporting serious research, building stronger academic groups and encouraging work that meets international standards,” he said.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Daniel W. Lund said research-based rankings are significant because they reflect measurable academic output and impact.

“Rankings based on research data are important because they reflect measurable scholarly output and impact. IUB’s performance in Microbiology and Physical Sciences points to the quality of work being done by our faculty and researchers,” he said.

According to Research.com, institutional rankings are determined using the cumulative D-index, or Discipline H-index, of affiliated scholars who meet the qualifying threshold. The D-index measures a researcher’s publication and citation impact within a specific discipline, while the H-index is widely used to assess both research productivity and citation influence.

The ranking was based on bibliometric data collected on 27 November 2024 and analysed 279,971 scientist profiles across major scientific disciplines. Only researchers with a qualifying D-index of 20 or higher were considered in the assessment.