Imperial ranked as UK's most international university

Imperial is the UK's most international university for the second year in a row, says Times Higher Education.

The 2017 rating of the world's most international universities, places Imperial as 5th overall, up from 10th in 2016. 

The new table considers the "international outlook" of institutions, including levels of international staff, students and research co-authors, as well as universities' international reputations. 

ETH Zurich tops the global league table, followed by fellow Swiss institution École  Polytechnique  Fédérale de Lausanne, the University of Hong Kong and the National University of Singapore. UK universities appearing in the top ten behind Imperial's 5th place include the University of Oxford (6th), Cambridge (8th), UCL (9th) and LSE (10th). The Australian National University was ranked 7th. 

Imperial has significant research collaborations with each of the other top ten international universities. 

Global community

Professor Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London, said: "Imperial’s excellence arises from its talented people who come from all over the world. There is something special about a global academic community where people from different cultures contribute diverse perspectives, new ideas, and fresh approaches to solving complex problems. 

Luca Alessandrini

"Great discoveries arise when brilliant people absorb and learn things from the breadth of people they meet.  We are proud to be the UK's most international university. 

"At a time when international mobility is under threat, we will defend our values, celebrate our diversity, and forge new connections around the world."

Imperial's global community includes Luca Alessandrini from Italy who was recently named London's most innovative international student, pioneering bioengineer Dr Reiko Tanaka from Japan, and alumnus Dr David Goodall from Australia, the world's oldest working scientist. 

For further information on Imperial's international ties, please see the Global Imperial webpages. 

Main image of international scientific collaborations: computed by Olivier H. Beauchesne & Scimago Lab, data by Scopus.