THE University of Southampton has been named in the top 100 of Europe’s Most Innovative universities.

Southampton was ranked 77th in the list compiled by news agency Thomson Reuters.

The list identifies institutions that are doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies, and help drive the global economy.

Don Spalinger, director of Research and Innovation Services at the university, said: “It’s an honour for Southampton to be amongst the most prestigious research-intensive universities across Europe. 

“We are collaborating with hundreds of partners across Europe with a substantial portion of our research income flowing from Europe. We work with corporate, health and public sector partners to ensure our research creates social impacts that are changing the world for the better.

“Southampton is a founding member of SETsquared, the global number one university business incubator. We have developed a game-changing programme, ICURe (Innovation and Commercialisation of University Research) that, in its pilot stages, is already producing results, taking our research out of the lab and into the global economy.”

To compile its ranking, the IP & Science division of Thomson Reuters began by identifying more than 600 global organisations – including educational institutions, non-profit charities, and government-funded labs – that publish the most academic research. 

Then they evaluated each candidate on 10 different metrics, focusing on academic papers (which indicate basic research) and patent filings (which point to an institution’s ability to apply research and commercialise its discoveries). Finally, they trimmed the list so that it only included European universities, and then ranked them based on their performance. 

The most innovative university in Europe is KU Leuven, a Dutch-speaking school based in Belgium’s Flanders region. Its researchers submit more patents than almost any other university in Europe, and outside researchers oftenfrequently cite KU Leuven inventions in their own patent applications.

Imperial College London and Cambridge were number two and three respectively and Oxford was ranked eighth.

Others top 100 UK universities in the top 100 were: Manchester (17), Dundee (18), London (30), Edinburgh (32), Cardiff (45), Birmingham (53), Leeds (56), Sheffield (59), Nottingham (70), Bristol (81), St Andrews (82), Warwick (84), Queens Belfast (87).