Big swing in where European innovation happens as UK-based universities lose out in third annual Reuters Top 100: Europe's Most Innovative Universities ranking

UK-based universities drop a cumulative 35 spots as German and Swiss universities make gains.

LONDON, April 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Political uncertainty may be causing a big swing in where European innovation happens. That's the conclusion of the third annual Reuters ranking of Europe's Most Innovative Universities, a list that identifies and ranks the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies, and help drive the global economy.

The trend is most clear in the sum of changes in rank for each country's institutions: the 23 German universities on this year's list rose 23 spots, more than any other country. Switzerland was second, with five universities up a total of eight spots. In contrast, the list's 21 UK-based universities dropped a cumulative 35 spots.

The introduction to the ranking concludes that while the United Kingdom's "Brexit" from the European Union is almost a year away, Europe's scientific community may already be leaving the UK in favour of research institutions on the continent. A February 2018 study published by the UK-based Centre for Global Higher Education reports that many German academics view Brexit as an "advantage," and hope to use it to attract UK researchers to German universities. In turn, UK academics report that their own postdoctoral researchers aren't seeking positions in the UK and are looking at the EU or United States instead.

According to the ranking, as Brexit unfolds the situation could get worse: A November 2017 study performed by the School of International Futures for the UK's Royal Society describes a possible post-secession United Kingdom where universities compete for a shrinking pool of skilled workers, projects that used to receive EU funding wither, researchers receive fewer invites to join consortia and attend conferences, and overseas collaboration is limited. Similarly, EU-based businesses that fund research at universities may prefer to keep their investments within the region in order to avoid the tax and regulatory headaches of working with post-Brexit UK institutions.

The most innovative university in Europe, for the third year running, is Belgium's KU Leuven. A Dutch-speaking school based in Belgium's Flanders region, KU Leuven was founded in 1425 by Pope Martin V and continually produces a high volume of influential inventions.

Patents filed by KU scientists are frequently cited by other researchers in academia and in private industry. That's one of the key criteria in the Reuters ranking, which was compiled in partnership with Clarivate Analytics, a global data company providing trusted insights and analytics, and based on empirical data including patent filings from Derwent Innovation and research paper citations from the Web of Science.

Overall, the most elite ranks of Europe's Most Innovative Universities held steady from last year. The UK's Imperial College London and University of Cambridge hold onto their respective second and third spots for the third straight year.

Other leading institutions simply traded a few spaces, like the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (up one at four), University of Erlangen Nuremberg (up one at five), and the Technical University of Munich (down two at six).

For more on the Reuters Top 100: Europe's Most Innovative Universities, including a detailed methodology and profiles of the universities, visit www.reuters.com/innovative-universities-europe-2018.

Reuters
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world's largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Follow news about Reuters at @ReutersPR.

Clarivate Analytics
Clarivate Analytics is the global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation. Building on a heritage going back more than a century and a half, we have built some of the most trusted brands across the innovation lifecycle, including Web of Science, Cortellis, Derwent, CompuMark, MarkMonitor and Techstreet. Today, Clarivate Analytics is a new and independent company on a bold entrepreneurial mission to help our clients radically reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing innovations. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

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