
Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University top the third annual Reuters Top 100 ranking of the world’s most innovative universities. The Reuters Top 100 aims to identify and rank the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies, and power new markets and industries. Compiled in partnership with Clarivate Analytics, the ranking is based on proprietary data and analysis of numerous indicators including patent filings and research paper citations.
The most innovative university in the world, for the third consecutive year, is Stanford University. Located in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, Stanford has long played a key role in the development of our modern networked world: A Stanford professor designed the basic communication standard for the Internet, and university alumni founded some of the biggest tech companies in the world, including Google, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Netflix. Today the university continues to consistently produce original research and technology. Innovations that originate at Stanford are frequently cited by researchers elsewhere in academia and in private industry.
Overall, the top ranks of the World’s Most Innovative Universities remain largely unchanged, with nine of last year’s 10 highest-ranked universities remaining in the top 10. And the most elite institutions are almost all large, well-established universities based in the United States and Western Europe. Rounding out the top three are MIT and Harvard, which have held onto their respective 2nd and 3rd place rankings for the past three years. In fourth place is the University of Pennsylvania, which climbed four spots from #8 last year. The highest ranked university outside the U.S., Belgium’s KU Leuven (#5), is a nearly 600-year-old institution that maintains one of the largest independent research and development organizations on the planet.
In contrast, there are only two Asian universities in the top 20, both of which are based in South Korea, and one of them actually teaches the majority of its classes in English: South Korea’s KAIST, formerly the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, ranked #6. Established in 1971 by the Korean government, KAIST was modeled after engineering schools in the United States, and initially funded with a multimillion-dollar loan from the United States Agency for International Development.
Overall, the top 100 consists of 51 universities based in North America, 26 in Europe, 20 in Asia and three in the Middle East.
For more on the Reuters Top 100, including a detailed methodology and profiles of the universities, visit www.reuters.com/innovative-universities-2017/.
The Reuters Top 100: The World’s Most Innovative Universities
1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Stanford University
2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Harvard University
4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Pennsylvania
5Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â KU Leuven
6Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â KAIST
7Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Washington
8Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Michigan System
9Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Texas System
10Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Vanderbilt University
11Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Duke University
12Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of California System
13Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Northwestern University
14Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)
15Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Imperial College London
16Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Cornell University
17Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â California Institute of Technology
18Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Wisconsin System
19Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne
20Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Southern California
21Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Tokyo
22Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Johns Hopkins University
23Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Georgia Institute of Technology
24Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Seoul National University
25Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Illinois System
26Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Cambridge
27Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Indiana University System
28Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Pierre & Marie Curie University – Paris 6
29Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Colorado System
30Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Pittsburgh
31Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Oxford
32Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Purdue University System
33Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Chicago
34Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Osaka University
35Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of North Carolina System
36Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Princeton University
37Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Ohio State University
38Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tufts University
39Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tohoku University
40Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Technical University of Munich
41Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Columbia University
42Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Kyoto University
43Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Yale University
44Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Baylor College of Medicine
45Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tokyo Institute of Technology
46Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Toronto
47Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Minnesota System
48Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sungkyunkwan University
49Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Utah
50Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Erlangen Nuremberg
51Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tsinghua University
52Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
53Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Oregon Health & Science University
54Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Emory University
55Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
56Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Delft University of Technology
57Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Massachusetts System
58Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of British Columbia
59Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Zurich
60Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Peking University
61Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Hanyang University
62Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Montpellier
63Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Boston University
64Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Munich
65Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Technical University of Denmark
66Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Florida
67Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University College London
68Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Kyushu University
69Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Yonsei University
70Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â National University of Singapore
71Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â State University of New York System
72Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Case Western Reserve University
73Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Keio University
74Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Copenhagen
75Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Ghent University
76Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Florida State University
77Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Korea University
78Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Rutgers State University
79Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Rochester
80Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Manchester
81Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Freiburg
82Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Hebrew University of Jerusalem
83Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology
84Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Leiden University
85Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Arizona State University
86Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Free University of Berlin
87Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Claude Bernard – Lyon 1
88Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Tel Aviv University
89Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Technion Israel Institute of Technology
90Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Paris Descartes – Paris 5
91Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
92Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Rice University
93Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Paris Sud – Paris 11
94Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Iowa
95Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Hokkaido University
96Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â University of Virginia
97Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Dresden University of Technology
98Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Carnegie Mellon University
99Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Wake Forest University
100Â Â Â Â Â Â Zhejiang University