University of Tehran

Tehran, Iran · founded 1934 · 50,000 students · public research university

Known for: The University of Tehran is Iran's oldest modern university and its most prestigious institution, often called the 'Mother University' of Iran. It is a leading center for higher education and research, with influential alumni in politics, science, and culture.

Rankings

QS World: #373
Times Higher Education: #601

Top programmes

Engineering
Medicine
Law and Political Science
Humanities and Social Sciences
Natural Sciences
Fine Arts

Notable alumni

Mohammad Khatami — Former reformist President of Iran
Mir-Hossein Mousavi — Former Prime Minister of Iran and opposition leader
Shirin Ebadi — Nobel Peace Prize laureate, human rights activist and lawyer
Abbas Kiarostami — Acclaimed film director and screenwriter
Ali Akbar Salehi — Nuclear scientist and former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
Abdolkarim Soroush — Prominent Iranian philosopher and reformist thinker
Mohammad Javad Zarif — Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran and nuclear negotiator
Parviz Davoodi — Former Vice President of Iran

Traditions

Student protests and political gatherings
Annual University Day celebrations
Cultural and artistic festivals
Debates and academic conferences

If University of Tehran were…

As a food: Tahdig — The crispy, prized bottom layer of Persian rice—sophisticated, traditional, requires patience and skill, and represents something precious that's been under pressure and heat for a long time, emerging with character inta
As an athlete: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — Brilliant, principled, politically outspoken, changed his name to reflect identity, maintained excellence despite controversy, and combined intellectual depth with competitive achievement—like UT's tradition of producing
As a person alive today: Marjane Satrapi — Iranian intellectual who attended UT-affiliated schools, navigates between tradition and modernity, tells complex stories about her homeland from exile, embodies the diaspora of educated Iranians the university has produ
As a historical figure: Mohammad Mossadegh — UT-educated Prime Minister who nationalized oil, combined Western education with nationalist politics, ultimately overthrown—embodies the university's role training leaders who challenged both internal and external power
As a movie or TV show: A Separation — Asghar Farhadi's film captures educated Tehran middle-class navigating moral complexity, tradition versus modernity, bureaucratic systems, and the gap between ideals and reality—exactly UT's student experience.
As a US president: Jimmy Carter — Intellectual, principled, navigated revolution and hostage crisis, ultimately constrained by forces beyond control, maintained moral authority despite political defeat—mirrors UT's role during and after 1979.
As a city: Beirut — Historic intellectual capital of its region, multilingual, politically turbulent, produces sophisticated diaspora, maintains cultural prestige despite instability, caught between tradition and cosmopolitanism.
As an element: Uranium — Powerful, controversial, subject to international sanctions and scrutiny, central to national pride and geopolitical tension, requires sophisticated handling—UT exists at the heart of Iran's nuclear science debates and W
As a car: Peugeot 504 — Persian intellectual heritage meets French engineering pragmatism—Tehran's premier university has survived revolution and sanctions while producing Iran's elite. Durable, historically significant, and built to endure pol

Campus life

The university has a politically and intellectually vibrant campus life, with a history of student activism and debate. It hosts numerous cultural and academic events, and its central Tehran location makes it a hub for student activity.