For the second year in a row, KU Leuven leads the Reuters ranking of Europe’s most innovative universities.
According to Reuters, “KU Leuven earned its first-place rank, in part, by producing a high volume of influential inventions. Its researchers submit more patents than most other universities on the continent, and outside researchers frequently cite KU Leuven inventions in their own patent applications.”
The Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge are second and third on the list. Belgium had six universities in total in the top 100.
Rankings like this one increase the confidence of potential partners, investors, faculty, and students that an institution is really transforming science and technology and affecting the global economy. The criteria focused on academic papers, which indicate basic research performed at a university; and patent filings, which point to an institution’s interest in protecting and commercializing its discoveries.
Read the original press release here.