the logo

The most innovative universities in Europe 2019

Germany has the highest number of innovative universities in Europe, according to new Reuters’ analysis

    Seeta Bhardwa's avatar

    Seeta Bhardwa

    Editor, THE Student
    May 6 2019
    Most innovative universities in Europe

    Share

    KU Leuven in Belgium has been named the most innovative university in Europe for the fourth year running. 

    The analysis was carried out by Reuters in collaboration with Clarivate Analytics and looked at which universities produce original research, create useful technology, and stimulate the global economy. 

    To compile the rankings, Clarivate Analytics identified more than 600 global organisations that publish the most academic research. Then each institution was evaluated based on 10 different metrics focusing on patent filings and research paper citations, and then separated into regions. 

    The University of Erlangen-Nuremburg climbs two spots this year to take second position. This bumps École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (fifth) all down one place. 

    Germany has the highest number of universities on the list with 23 institutions in the top 100. The UK closely follows with 21 institutions, France is third with 18 universities, Netherlands has 9, Belgium has seven, Spain and Switzerland have five each, Italy has four, Denmark has three, Norway has two, and Austria and Ireland have one each.


    The most innovative universities in Europe: top 50

    Most innovative rank 2019 University Country
    1 KU Leuven Belgium
    2 University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
    3 Imperial College London UK
    4 University of Cambridge UK
    5 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne  Switzerland 
    6 UCL UK
    7 Technical University of Munich Germany
    8 University of Manchester UK
    9 University of Zurich Switzerland
    10 ETH Zurich Switzerland 
    11 Heidelberg University Germany
    12  University of Oxford UK
    13 Technical University of Denmark Denmark
    14 Leiden University Netherlands
    15 Paris-Sud University France
    16 Delft University of Technology Netherlands
    17 Montpellier University France
    18 Paris Descartes University France
    19 University of Basel Switzerland
    20 LMU Munich Germany
    21 King's  College London UK
    22 Sorbonne University France
    23 Free University of Berlin Germany
    24 University of Bordeaux France
    25 Utrecht University Netherlands
    26 Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz Germany
    27 RWTH Aachen University Germany
    28 Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin Germany
    29 Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands
    30 University of Freiburg Germany
    31 TU Dresden Germany
    32 Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
    33 Grenoble Alpes University France
    34 Technical University of Berlin Germany
    35 University of Copenhagen Denmark
    36 Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands
    37 University of Edinburgh UK
    38 Saarland University Germany
    39 University of Lille France
    40 Vrije Universiteit Brussel Belgium
    41 Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 France
    42 University of Dundee UK
    43 Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
    44 University of Glasgow UK
    45 University of Tübingen Germany
    46 University of Birmingham UK
    47 Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
    48  Ghent University Belgium
    49 Queen Mary University of London UK
    50 Aix-Marseille University France

    Read more: The most innovative universities in the world  


    sticky sign up

    Register free and enjoy extra benefits