Reuters published its ranking of the top 100 most innovative academic institutions in the world - which included two Israeli representatives. Tel Aviv University placed 75 and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology placed 76.
Stanford University, which is located in Silicon Valley and has long been a center for startups and tech firms, topped the Reuters list. Its alumni and faculty were among the founders of such tech giants as Google, Yahoo, and HP. The international news agency cited a study conducted in 2012 which concluded that the total global revenue generated by firms founded by Stanford’s entrepreneurs is $2.7 trillion per year.
Stanford is followed by MIT, Harvard, the University of Washington, and the University of Michigan system. Reuters explained that its methodology graded the universities on 10 different metrics, focusing on the impact of its academic papers and patent filings.
While half of the universities recognized by Reuters are based in the US, the news agency noted the strong performance of higher education institutions outside America. Japan is home to nine of the universities on the list - more than any other non-US nation - while South Korea was the only non-US country to be represented in the top 10.
The highest-ranked European academic institution was Imperial College London, founded in 1907, which placed right outside the top 10. Imperial College is a relatively young academic institution for the UK; Cambridge University, which placed 25, was founded in 1209.
Reuters also singled out Switzerland, with its small population of 8 million, for being represented by three universities on the list - the most per capita of any nation in the world.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 17, 2015
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