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Switzerland¡¯s Ecole Polytech F¨¦d¨¦rale Lausanne (in 13th place) is the only university outside America to feature in the top 20 of the ranking, which was devised by the Netherlands¡¯ Leiden 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology takes top spot in the 2012-13 ranking, with the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of California Santa Barbara in second place, just ahead of Stanford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ.

They are followed by Princeton, Harvard and Rice 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ in Houston, Texas, in the ranking of 500 major international universities published on 17 April.

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The highest placed UK university is the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Cambridge in 24th place, while the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Oxford is placed at 30th.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is 33rd, while Imperial College London (41st), the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of St Andrews (47th), the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Exeter (49th) and 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ College London (50th) also make the top 50.

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Unlike many other rankings, the CWTS Leiden Ranking does not rely on reputation surveys among academics and instead concentrates on scientific output by measuring a university¡¯s research citation scores.

However, a report by the European 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ Association, titled Global 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ Rankings and their Impact ¨C Report II, published last week, said there were questions about the overall validity of the ranking as ¡°arts and humanities are not considered at all¡±.

¡°Coverage of engineering and social sciences is limited due to the types of publications selected: articles, reviews and letters, but not conference proceedings and/or books,¡± the report adds.

Nonetheless, the ranking reports how universities outside the US and Europe have become serious players in the sector, not only in the number of publications but also in scientific impact.

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For the first time two Chinese universities - Nankai (53rd) and Hunan (55th) - overtake the best universities in the Netherlands in terms of impact (Leiden, 58th, and Utrecht, 60th).

However, Dutch universities perform well in terms of research collaboration with industry, according to the ranking.

EindhovenTechnical 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ is the university which publishes most intensely in collaboration with companies, with 15.6 per cent of its publications containing a business address.

Delft 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, in the south west of the country, and Sweden¡¯s Chalmers 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Technology, share the second place with 14 per cent, almost twice the rate of Harvard 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, the world¡¯s largest research university, which clocks a score of 7.6 per cent.

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jack.grove@tsleducation.com

CWTS Leiden Ranking results