Atlas report
AI researchers in Iran
Sharif University of Technology is the largest, with 439 indexed researchers, barely ahead of University of Tehran at 403. No single place dominates here.
The short answer
By number of indexed researchers, Iran ranks 24th of 132 countries, with 3 642 profiles.
0.5% of the AI researchers indexed in Iran sit in a company rather than a university, 6% of the world share of 8.8%.
Face and Expression Recognition is where Iran stands apart. 153 researchers, 2.2% of the country's total, against a world share of 0.8%.
What stands out
Machine Learning in Healthcare is the subject newcomers in Iran pick up fastest: 39 started on it between 2023 and 2025, and its share of new entrants is 2.4 times its share in the previous window.
Per million inhabitants, Iran has 41 AI researchers in the index against 89 worldwide, half the world figure.
Iran holds 0.5% of the researchers with a known country and 1.1% of the world's population, half its demographic weight.
Subjects
The single most common subject is Topic Modeling, on which 6.5% of Iran's subject assignments fall.
Subject reports: Natural Language Processing Techniques, Neural Networks and Applications, Adversarial Robustness in Machine Learning, Multimodal Machine Learning Applications.
| Subject | Researchers | Share here | Share worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic Modeling | 449 | 6.5% | 7.9% |
| Natural Language Processing Techniques | 282 | 4.1% | 4.3% |
| Advanced Neural Network Applications | 275 | 4.0% | 4.4% |
| AI in cancer detection | 175 | 2.5% | 1.0% |
| Face and Expression Recognition | 153 | 2.2% | 0.8% |
| Neural Networks and Applications | 146 | 2.1% | 1.2% |
| Adversarial Robustness in Machine Learning | 122 | 1.8% | 1.9% |
| Multimodal Machine Learning Applications | 112 | 1.6% | 3.9% |
Newcomers by year
Newcomers between 2023 and 2025 number 659 in Iran, against 561 between 2020 and 2022: a ratio of 1.2, where the world sits at 1.1.
The 2025 intake for Iran was 0.7 times the average of the three previous years, against 0.8 worldwide.
| First publication | New in Iran | Share of the world's newcomers |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 95 | 0.5% |
| 2020 | 119 | 0.6% |
| 2021 | 207 | 0.8% |
| 2022 | 235 | 0.7% |
| 2023 | 227 | 0.7% |
| 2024 | 270 | 0.9% |
| 2025 | 162 | 0.6% |
Institutions
Sharif University of Technology is the largest institution; with the next two it accounts for 30% of the researchers indexed in Iran.
Sharif University of Technology is the largest, with 439 indexed researchers, barely ahead of University of Tehran at 403. No single place dominates here.
| Institution | Researchers | Share of the country |
|---|---|---|
| Sharif University of Technology | 439 | 12% |
| University of Tehran | 403 | 11% |
| Amirkabir University of Technology | 243 | 6.7% |
Compared with its peers
The two countries closest in size are Bangladesh and Austria. Same order of magnitude, different profile. The gap that stands out is the share working in a company: 0.5% here, below the 4.9% of those two. Reports: AI researchers in Bangladesh, AI researchers in Austria.
| Iran | Bangladesh | Austria | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Researchers | 3 642 | 3 733 | 3 914 |
| Per million inhabitants | 41 | 22 | 430 |
| In a company | 0.5% | 0.1% | 9.7% |
| Early career | 48% | 66% | 49% |
| Newcomers, recent against previous window | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
Common questions
- How many AI researchers are there in Iran?
- 3 642, as of October 2026, counting every indexed researcher with an institution in Iran. That is 0.5% of the profiles with a known country.
- Where do you find AI researchers in Iran?
- Sharif University of Technology, 439, University of Tehran, 403, Amirkabir University of Technology, 243. Together they hold 30% of the country's indexed researchers.
- What is Iran strongest in?
- Face and Expression Recognition, at 2.7 times the world share.
- Is the pool of AI researchers in Iran growing?
- Yes, at the world's pace. Between 2023 and 2025, 659 people in Iran published for the first time, against 561 over the three years before, a ratio of 1.2 where the world sits at 1.1.
The names behind the numbers
Every count on this page is a list in the index.
Search it by subject and country, and get an alert before they come free.