Resolution criteria:

This market will resolve to "Yes" if, at any point before January 1, 2028, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is ranked below first place in the QS World University Rankings for the subject area of Physics & Astronomy.

The market will resolve to "No" if MIT maintains the first position in this ranking through December 31, 2027. The official QS World University Rankings (https://www.topuniversities.com/university-subject-rankings/physics-astronomy) will serve as the source for resolution.

Background:

MIT has consistently held the top position in the QS World University Rankings for Physics and Astronomy in recent years. In the 2025 rankings, MIT was ranked No. 1 in this subject area, and many others (news.mit.edu). MIT has been ranked as the No. 1 university in the world by QS World University Rankings (non-subject-specific) for 13 straight years.

Considerations:

The QS world university rankings state their methodology used to decide the rankings https://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings/methodology

Recently, Donald Trump has been defunding a number of ivy league universities, and threatened to remove Harvard's tax-exempt status (https://apnews.com/article/harvard-trump-federal-cuts-universities-protests-8fa92331b2780394ea171b0b32d5d243). MIT has not yet been a target of Trump's defunding, but may be next in line.