Trinity has been ranked 65th in the Reuters list of Europe’s most innovative universities, which ranks higher education institutions doing the most to advance science and support new markets and industries.
On Twitter, Trinity’s Research Development Manager Doris Alexander celebrated the news, pointing to the number of League of European Research Universities (LERU) institutions that had also made the list.
University College Cork was the only other Irish university on the list, ranking 89th.
Topping the list are some of the universities consistently named as the best in Europe: KU Leuven, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge. Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Erlangen Nuremberg were named fourth and fifth.
On a per capita basis, Ireland is one of the most innovative countries on the list, which measures original research, the development of new technologies and benefits to the world economy. In the future, Trinity wants to strengthen its ties to Ireland’s economy, with a planned €1 billion technology campus in Grand Canal Dock.
The ranking is a boost to Trinity, which has worked hard to pitch itself as an innovative research university in recent years. Membership of LERU, which was announced in 2016, was seen as Trinity’s chance to sit at the top table of European research.
In more conventional rankings, such as Times Higher Education and QS, Trinity has had more mixed fortunes, struggling with a decline that many in higher education have blamed on a lack of government funding. However, the College has maintained its position as Ireland’s top-ranked university.
