Leiden Ranks EPFL as Europe's Top University
© 2011 EPFL / Alain Herzog
The latest ranking from Leiden University has just been released; EPFL comes in at number twelve in the world ranking and tops the table as the first non-American institution.
Swiss Universities have done well in this year’s Leiden ranking with the two Federal Institutes of Technology particularly well-placed. EPFL and ETHZ, at 12th and 18th place respectively, rank as the top two non-American institutions, with no less than six Swiss universities placed in the top 100.
The Leiden ranking is based on the quality and impact of scientific output and, in comparison to other rankings that use criteria such as reputation surveys, is intended to be quantified and objective.
Leiden’s main indicator is the number of scientific papers published in the top 10% of journals, based on their citation index. In this category, MIT takes pole position with a quarter of its publications in the top 10%. EPFL, as the first non-American institute, counts around one fifth of its papers in the heavyweight category.
University of Lausanne scores particularly well in Leiden's MCS indicator, measuring the citation average per scientific article. It ranks at the second european institution. Such a result confirms the prevailing role of the Canton in science.
In general, Switzerland’s outstanding score is remarkable and is testimony to the countries considerable scientific output at an international level.