Marrakech – The Times Higher Education (THE) 2026 rankings now place Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) among the world’s top 400 universities. This marks notable progress from its previous position in the top 500 in the 2025 rankings.
The Benguerir-based institution now stands as Morocco’s premier university, North Africa’s leading academic center, and the fourth-ranked university across Africa. This positioning confirms UM6P’s status among international research and innovation institutions of excellence, according to a university statement.
The 2026 THE rankings evaluated over 2,191 universities from 115 countries based on 18 indicators across five main categories. These include teaching environment, research quality, research environment, international outlook, and industry relationships. UM6P is placed between 351st and 400th globally.
This recognition reflects the university’s scientific momentum in recent years. Between 2020 and 2025, UM6P produced more than 6,600 indexed scientific publications, with 85% appearing in Q1 journals and generating nearly 84,000 citations.
The university currently employs 379 permanent professors and hosts 1,300 doctoral students, demonstrating its strengthened research and doctoral training capabilities. UM6P welcomes 8,756 students from 40 different nationalities, with women comprising 55% of the student body, distributed across 45 educational programs.
In innovation and entrepreneurship, the university’s incubator and accelerator network has supported over 1,600 startups and project leaders throughout the continent, with 5,500 young people trained through incubation and acceleration programs.
Established in 2013 and officially inaugurated in January 2017, UM6P was created by the OCP Foundation as the academic engine of the Mohammed VI Green City in Benguerir. The university was designed as a hub for science, technology, and public-policy education serving both Morocco and Africa.
UM6P operates with a “learning by doing” philosophy, combining advanced laboratories and living-lab testbeds with industry partnerships to translate ideas into market solutions. The university features specialized schools such as the School of Collective Intelligence and the School of Computer Science.
The institution also houses the African Supercomputing Center with the “Toubkal” system, listed among the TOP500 supercomputers globally. Additionally, UM6P participates in sustainability initiatives, including the Green H2A hydrogen technology platform with IRESEN and OCP, and Morocco’s National Hydrogen Commission.
UM6P has expanded its reach with a Rabat campus focused on governance and social sciences, and has recently established a US “Global Hub” with offices in New York and Cambridge to connect African researchers and entrepreneurs with North American ecosystems.
