MARK ARSENAULT2026年1月16日哈佛在一些其他全球排名中仍然名列前茅，但校领导人警告称，联邦经费削减正威胁其科研能力。 Sophie Park for The New York TimesUntil recently, Harvard was the most productive research university in the world, according to a global ranking that looks at academic publication.根据一项以学术论文发表数量为依据的全球排名，直到最近，哈佛一直是世界上科研成果最多的研究型大学。That position may be teetering, the most recent evidence of a troubling trend for American academia.这一地位如今可能正岌岌可危，这是美国学术界一个令人担忧趋势的最新证据。Harvard recently dropped to No. 3 on the ranking. The schools racing up the list are not Harvard’s American peers, but Chinese universities that have been steadily climbing in rankings that emphasize the volume and quality of research they produce.在最新排名中，哈佛已跌至第三位。排名快速跃升的并非美国名校，而是来自中国的高校——在强调科研产出数量与质量的排名体系中，它们正稳步攀升。The reordering comes as the Trump administration has been slashing research funding to American schools that depend heavily on the federal government to pay for scientific endeavors. President Trump’s policies did not start the American universities’ relative decline, which began years ago, but they could accelerate it.排名的变化发生在特朗普政府大幅削减美国高校的科研经费之际，而美国高校高度依赖联邦政府的资金支持。美国大学的相对衰落并非始于特朗普的政策，这一趋势早在多年前就已开始，但他的政策可能加速了这一过程。“There is a big shift coming, a bit of a new world order in global dominance of higher education and research,” said Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer for Times Higher Education, a British organization unconnected to The New York Times that produces one of the better-known world rankings of universities.泰晤士高等教育(Times Higher Education)的全球事务主管菲尔·巴蒂指出：“全球高等教育与研究主导地位正经历重大转变，新的世界秩序正在出现。”这家英国机构（与《纽约时报》无关联）发布的大学世界排名广为人知。Educators and experts say the shift is a problem not just for American universities, but also for the nation as a whole.教育界人士和专家表示，这种转变不仅是美国高校的问题，更关乎国家整体竞争力。“There is a risk of the trend continuing, and potential decline,” Mr. Baty said. “I use the word ‘decline’ very carefully. It’s not as if U.S. schools are getting demonstrably worse, it’s just the global competition: Other nations are making more rapid progress.”“这种趋势有持续下去甚至走向衰落的风险，”巴蒂说。“我非常谨慎地使用‘衰落’这个词。并不是说美国的学校明显变差了，而是全球竞争在加剧：其他国家进步得更快。”哈佛在一些其他全球排名中仍然名列前茅，但校领导人警告称，联邦经费削减正威胁其科研能力。Look back to the early 2000s, and a global university ranking based on scientific output, such as published journal articles, would be very different. Seven American schools would be among the top 10, led by Harvard University at No. 1.回望21世纪初，基于科研成果数量（如期刊论文发表文章）的全球大学排名格局截然不同。当时前十名中美国高校占据七席，哈佛大学高居榜首。Only one Chinese school, Zhejiang University, would even make the top 25.当时中国仅有一所大学——浙江大学——能跻身前25名。Today, Zhejiang is ranked first on that list, the Leiden Rankings, from the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Seven other Chinese schools are in the top 10.如今在荷兰莱顿大学科技研究中心的莱顿大学排名中，浙江大学已跃居首位，另有七所中国高校进入前十。Harvard produces significantly more research now than it did two decades ago, but it has nonetheless fallen to third. And it is the only American university still near the top of the list. Harvard is still first in the Leiden rankings for highly-cited scientific publications.哈佛现在的科研成果比20年前多得多，但仍滑落至第三位，而且它是唯一跻身榜单前列的美国高校。哈佛在莱顿大学的科技文献引用指标排名上依然高居全球首位。The issue at top American universities is not falling production.美国顶尖大学面临的问题并非科研数量的下降。Six prominent American schools that would have been in the top 10 in the first decade of the 2000s — the University of Michigan, the University of California, Los Angeles, Johns Hopkins, the University of Washington-Seattle, the University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University — are producing more research than they did two decades ago, according to the Leiden tallies.根据莱顿大学排名的数据，六所在21世纪前10年曾位列全球前十的知名美国学府——密歇根大学、加州大学洛杉矶分校、约翰斯·霍普金斯大学、华盛顿大学西雅图分校、宾夕法尼亚大学和斯坦福大学——如今的科研成果数量都比20年前多。But production by the Chinese schools has risen far more.但中国高校的科研成果数量增长幅度却要大得多。According to Mark Neijssel, director of services for the Centre for Science and Technology Studies, the Leiden rankings take into account papers and citations contained in the Web of Science, a database set of academic publications which is owned by Clarivate, a data and analytics company. Thousands of academic journals are represented in the databases, many of which are highly specialized, he said.莱顿大学科技研究中心服务部主任马克·奈杰塞尔指出，莱顿排名采用的论文及引文数据源自数据与分析公司科睿唯安公司旗下的科学引文索引数据库。该数据库收录了数千种学术期刊，其中许多属于高度专业化领域。Global university rankings generally have not attracted much popular attention in the United States. Even so, some experienced academics are seeing the growth in research production from China that the rankings reflect, and are warning that America is falling behind.全球大学排名在美国向来未受大众广泛关注。即便如此，一些资深学者已注意到排名所反映的中国科研产出的快速增长，并警示美国正在落后。Rafael Reif, a former president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said on a podcast last year that “the number of papers and the quality of the papers coming from China are outstanding” and are “dwarfing what we’re doing in the U.S.”麻省理工学院前校长拉斐尔·赖夫去年在一档播客节目中说，“中国发表的论文在数量和质量上都非常出色，”并且“正在把美国甩在后面”。Institutions in other countries around the world, by contrast, are watching the global rankings, seeing them as a measure both of academic prowess and of their progress in overtaking the United States. Zhejiang University displays its rankings prominently on its web page, and lists among the milestones in its history when it broke into the top 100 globally in 2017. Chinese state media has celebrated the ranking rise of the country’s universities.相比之下，世界其他国家的高校密切关注全球排名，用它们来衡量学术实力以及赶超美国的进度。浙江大学在它的官网上醒目展示了自己在排名上取得的成果，并将2017年进入全球前100名列为校史上的一个重要里程碑。中国的官方媒体也对本国大学排名的跃升进行了广泛报道。The center at Leiden has begun producing an alternative ranking that is based on a different academic database, called OpenAlex. Harvard is No. 1 in that ranking, but the trend is the same: 12 of the next 13 schools on the alternative list are Chinese.莱顿大学科技研究中心还开始发布基于另一学术数据库OpenAlex的排名。哈佛在该榜单位列第一，但趋势依然相似：紧随其后的13所高校中，有12所来自中国。“China is really building a lot of research capacity,” Mr. Neijssel said. At the same time, he said, Chinese researchers are putting more emphasis on publishing in English-language journals that are more widely read — and cited — around the world.“中国正在大力加强科研能力建设，”奈杰塞尔表示。他同时指出，中国的研究人员越来越重视在受众更广、引用率更高的英文期刊上发表成果。President Xi Jinping, in a speech in 2024, praised his country’s advances in fields such as quantum technology and space science. He cited a breakthrough by researchers at Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, who developed a method to synthesize starch from carbon dioxide in the lab, which could possibly lead to industries making food from the air, without needing acres of plants dependent on land, irrigation and harvesting.中国国家主席习近平在2024年的一次讲话中称赞了本国在量子技术、空间科学等领域取得的进展。他提到天津工业生物技术研究所研究人员的一项突破——他们在实验室中实现了二氧化碳合成淀粉，这项技术未来可能催生用空气制造食物的产业，无需通过占用大片土地、灌溉和收割得来的农作物。Other ranking systems that are weighted toward scientific output reflect a similar shift toward Chinese institutions.其他侧重科研成果的大学排名体系也有中国高校的排名不断攀升的类似趋势。Harvard is No. 1 globally in the University Ranking by Academic Performance, compiled by the Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. But Stanford University was the only other U.S. school in the top 10, which includes four Chinese universities. Another ranking, the Nature Index, placed Harvard first, followed by 10 Chinese schools.位于土耳其安卡拉的中东科技大学信息学院编制的高校学术表现排名中，哈佛大学位列全球第一。但除此之外前十名中仅有斯坦福大学一所美国高校，中国大学则占据四席。另一权威排名——自然指数大学排名同样将哈佛列为首位，紧随其后的十所高校均来自中国。Harvard and other leading U.S. universities face a fresh set of stressors from the Trump administration’s cuts to science grants, as well as from travel bans and an anti-immigration crackdown that has swept up international students and academics.哈佛和其他美国顶尖大学正面临一系列新的压力来源，包括特朗普政府削减科研经费，以及旅行禁令和反移民打压，这些措施已波及国际学生和学者。The number of international students arriving in the U.S. in August 2025 was 19 percent lower than the year before, a trend that could further hurt the prestige and rankings of American schools if the world’s best minds choose to study and work elsewhere.2025年8月赴美留学生人数同比下降19%，若全球顶尖人才选择前往其他国家学习工作，这种趋势可能进一步损害美国高校的声望与排名。在一家英国机构今年的排名中，北京大学被列为全球第13位。China has been pouring billions of dollars into its universities and aggressively working to make them attractive to foreign researchers. In the fall, China began offering a visa specifically for graduates of top universities in science and technology to travel to China to study or do business.中国持续向高校投入巨额资金，并积极吸引外国研究人员。去年秋季，中国开始为世界顶尖理工院校毕业生推出专项签证，方便他们来华学习或开展商务活动。“China has a boatload of money in higher education that it didn’t have 20 years ago,” said Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates, a Toronto education consulting company.多伦多教育咨询公司——高等教育战略协会总裁亚历克斯·乌舍尔指出：“在高等教育方面，中国拥有20年前所缺乏的雄厚资金。”Mr. Xi has made the reasons for the country’s investments explicit, arguing that a nation’s global power depends on its scientific dominance.习近平明确阐述了国家加大投入的原因，认为一个国家的全球实力取决于科技主导地位。“The scientific and technological revolution is intertwined with the game between superpowers,” he said in a speech in 2024.“科技革命与大国博弈相互交织，”他在2024年的一次讲话中说。President Trump’s administration has taken the opposite tack, aiming to cut billions of dollars in research grants for U.S. universities.特朗普政府则采取了相反的做法，计划削减美国高校数十亿美元的科研经费。Trump officials have argued that the cuts are meant to eliminate waste and reorient research away from themes of diversity and other topics that they see as too political.特朗普政府官员辩称，削减经费旨在消除浪费，并将研究重心从多元化等他们认为过于政治化的议题上转移。The Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment for this article.特朗普政府未回应本文的置评请求。A White House spokeswoman, Liz Huston, has said in the past that “the best science can’t thrive in institutions that have abandoned merit, free inquiry, and the pursuit of truth.”白宫发言人莉兹·休斯顿曾表示：“在放弃了任人唯贤、自由探索和追求真理的机构里，最优秀的科学是无法蓬勃发展的。”University leaders in the United States warned throughout 2025 that reductions in federal research grants could have devastating effects.美国大学校长们在2025年全年多次警告，联邦科研经费的削减可能带来灾难性影响。Harvard established a web page to catalog the types of scientific and medical research that would be interrupted by grant cuts. The American Association of University Professors and several legal allies filed suit to contest some of the cuts. The group’s president, Todd Wolfson, warned that research cuts would “stunt the development of the next generation of scientists.”哈佛大学专门设立网页，列举因经费削减可能中断的各类科学与医学研究。美国大学教授协会联合多家法律盟友提起诉讼，对部分削减措施提出挑战。该协会主席托德·沃尔夫森警告说，科研经费削减将“阻碍下一代科学家的成长”。A federal judge has ordered the federal government to resume funding for Harvard, after the Trump administration cut off billions of dollars in research funds in the spring. The administration has said it would curtail future grants to the school.在特朗普政府于春季切断了数十亿美元科研资金后，一名联邦法官已下令联邦政府恢复对哈佛的资助。政府方面则表示，将缩减未来对该校的拨款。A Harvard spokesman declined to comment.哈佛大学发言人拒绝置评。The prestige and global standing of many other U.S. universities are also in jeopardy. Fewer and smaller federal grants means less research, and by extension, potentially fewer discoveries to be written up and published in academic articles and papers, which will affect how schools fare in future rankings.许多其他美国高校的声誉和全球地位同样面临风险。联邦拨款的减少和缩水意味着研究活动萎缩，进而可能导致可发表成果的减少，进而直接影响高校在未来排名中的表现。Research universities make it part of their mission to pursue discoveries and develop new knowledge. Faculty members are often under pressure to produce results, summed up in the phrase “publish or perish.”研究型大学将追求发现和发展新知识视为自身使命的一部分。教师往往承受着出成果的压力，这种压力常被概括为一句话：“不发表，就淘汰。”Schools that do not aspire to produce reams of academic research papers, such as many liberal arts colleges, would not figure on production-based rankings. Mr. Neijssel said the Leiden rankings “do not pretend to say anything” about the quality of teaching at a university.那些并不以大量产出学术论文为目标的高校——例如许多文理学院——不会出现在基于学术成果的排名中。奈杰塞尔强调，莱顿排名“无意评价”大学的教学质量。Top U.S. schools have fared much better in ranking systems whose criteria are broader than just academic output. Some give weight to factors such as a school’s reputation, finances, and how badly students want to enroll, as reflected in its application acceptance rate. Some even take into account the number of Nobel Prize winners on the faculty.在那些评判标准不只局限于学术成果的排名体系中，美国顶尖大学的表现要好得多。一些排名会考虑学校的声誉、财务状况，以及学生的报考热度——后者通常体现在申请录取率上。有的排名甚至还会把教职员工中诺贝尔奖得主的人数纳入考量。These broader rankings may be slower to change, experts say, though they still show signs of the erosion of American supremacy in higher education.专家表示，这些衡量维度更广的排名变化可能较为缓慢，但它们仍显示出美国在高教领域的主导地位正在遭到削弱的迹象。清华大学过去十年在全球排名大幅上升。For 2026, and for the 10th year in a row, Times Higher Education in Britain ranked Oxford University the No. 1 university in the world. The rest of the organization’s top five included the same schools as last year: M.I.T., Princeton, the University of Cambridge, and then Harvard, tied with Stanford.英国泰晤士高等教育在2026年的排名中，连续第十年将牛津大学评为全球第一。该榜单的前五名其余席位与去年相同：麻省理工、普林斯顿、剑桥，以及并列第五的哈佛与斯坦福。American schools held seven of the top 10 spots in the 2026 ranking. But farther down the list, American universities are slipping. Sixty-two U.S. schools were ranked lower than last year, while only 19 rose.在2026年的排名中，美国高校占据了前十名中的七席。但在榜单更靠后的位置，美国大学的名次正在下滑。有62所美国学校的排名较去年下降，仅19所排名上升。Ten years ago, two prominent Beijing schools — Peking University and Tsinghua University — were ranked 42nd and 47th in Times Higher Education’s list. Now they are just below the top 10: Tsinghua was ranked 12th, and Peking 13th.十年前，北京的两所著名学府——北京大学和清华大学——在泰晤士高等教育的榜单上分别位列第42和第47名。如今它们已逼近前十：清华大学位列第12名，北京大学位列第13名。Six schools in Hong Kong are now in the top 200; South Korea placed four in the top 100.香港现有六所高校跻身世界前200名；韩国有四所高校进入前100名。While some foreign schools have risen, some well-known American schools have slipped. Duke University, for instance, was ranked 20th in 2021, and now is ranked 28th. Over that same time span, Emory University dropped to 102nd from 85th. Ten years ago, Notre Dame ranked 108th; now it is No. 194.在一些外国高校排名上升的同时，一些知名的美国高校排名却在下降。例如，杜克大学在2021年排名第20位，如今位列第28位。在同一时期，埃默里大学从第85位下滑至第102位。10年前，圣母大学排名第108位，如今已跌至第194位。The pressures that could reduce Harvard’s research output, like federal grant reductions and cuts to the school’s Ph.D. programs, are unlikely to show up immediately in rankings, said Mr. Usher, the higher education consultant.高等教育顾问乌舍尔指出，那些可能削弱哈佛大学科研成果的压力因素——如联邦经费的削减和学校博士项目的缩减——不太可能立刻反映在排名中。“If you’re looking at how many articles end up in ‘Nature’ or ‘Science’ from that institution, that is based on research that started four or five years ago,” he said. “There is a pretty serious time lag. I wouldn’t expect that to have a big impact in the next few years.”“如果你看到一所高校在《自然》或《科学》杂志上发表了多少论文，那些成果往往基于四五年前启动的研究，”他说。“这里面存在相当明显的时间滞后。我不认为这会在未来几年产生很大的影响。”While China is thriving in disciplines like chemistry and environmental sciences, the United States and Europe remain dominant in others, like general biology and medical sciences. And a study has suggested that Chinese researchers have been boosting their citation rankings by citing one another more often than western researchers tend to cite other westerners.尽管中国在化学、环境科学等学科中表现强劲，但在其他领域，如普通生物学和医学科学，美国和欧洲仍占据主导地位。此外，一项研究指出，中国研究人员通过比西方研究者更频繁地相互引用，提升了自身的引用排名。Mark Arsenault为《纽约时报》报道高等教育新闻。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。