UT System among top 10 most innovative universities in the world

AUSTIN—Transformational research and the invention of new technologies at University of Texas institutions has made UT System one of the top 10 in the world for innovation.

The UT System was ranked No. 9 by Reuters in its annual top 100 “World’s Most Innovative Universities” ranking, which lists public and private research universities as well as university systems.

“These rankings reflect the great minds at UT institutions that are improving the quality of our lives by driving successful and important innovations,” Chancellor William H. McRaven said. “I’m proud of the faculty, the researchers and the leaders at UT institutions who are dedicated to developing treatments for deadly diseases, making scientific advances and producing breakthrough technologies from which we all benefit.”

The other top 10 institutions on the Reuters’ list include: No. 1 Stanford University; No. 2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology; No. 3 Harvard University; No. 4 University of Pennsylvania; No. 5 KU Leuven; No. 6 KAIST; No. 7 University of Washington; No. 8 University of Michigan System; and No. 10 Vanderbilt University.

The UT System is the No. 3 U.S. public university in the rankings and scored ahead of other highly-regarded systems including the University of California System.

The UT System has nearly $2.9 billion in research expenditures, the second highest among public higher education systems nationally, and also ranks 8th globally for most U.S. patents granted. In 2016, researchers from UT’s eight academic and six health institutions were granted 213 patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and in the past five years, UT researchers have produced more than 120,000 publications.

Research is a significant economic driver in Texas, across the nation, and around the world, spurring innovation, technology transfer and start-up companies. From 2010 to 2015, entrepreneurs and researchers at UT System institutions created 151 companies and had more than 4,000 new invention disclosures.

To establish the rankings, institutions were evaluated on 10 different metrics, focusing on academic papers and patent filings, and were ranked based on performance.

About The University of Texas System
Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking basic, applied and clinical research, and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States. With 14 institutions and an enrollment of more than 234,000 students, the UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates approximately two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public institutions in Texas. The UT System’s operating budget for FY 2018 is $18.3 billion, including $3.6 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With more than 20,000 faculty – including Nobel laureates and many members of the National Academies – and nearly 80,000 health care professionals, researchers, student advisors and support staff, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.