The 311 University Innovation Index
The 311 University Innovation Index ranks 1,000 universities on research impact, current output, current influence and innovation links, built from open research data and the 311 Institute directories.
Compiled by Matthew Griffin and the 311 Institute from open data. Last updated .
- 1,000universities
- 64countries
- 92.2top score
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Top clusters
Countries prioritising it
Share of each country's labs in this field compared with the world average (countries with at least 6 labs and 3 in the field)
The world's leading university clusters
Where top universities concentrate within about 120 kilometres of each other.
The 50 most innovative universities
Ranked by the 311 University Innovation score.
| # | University | Score | Works 2024–25 | Citations 2024–25 | h-index | Labs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of WashingtonUnited States | 92.2 | 52,125 | 306,334 | 3,636 | 1 |
| 2 | University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina | 91.1 | 86,861 | 678,924 | 941 | 2 |
| 3 | Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States | 86.4 | 55,744 | 315,980 | 2,341 | 1 |
| 4 | Harvard UniversityUnited States | 85.2 | 105,256 | 682,163 | 3,285 | – |
| 5 | Stanford UniversityUnited States | 84.3 | 60,722 | 423,191 | 2,717 | – |
| 6 | Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States | 82.4 | 36,961 | 256,039 | 2,599 | – |
| 7 | University College LondonUnited Kingdom | 82.1 | 70,203 | 411,327 | 2,057 | – |
| 8 | Tsinghua UniversityChina | 82.1 | 68,657 | 559,656 | 1,224 | – |
| 9 | University of Southern CaliforniaUnited States | 82.0 | 29,054 | 175,075 | 1,539 | 1 |
| 10 | McGill UniversityCanada | 81.9 | 32,914 | 165,486 | 1,399 | 1 |
| 11 | University of OxfordUnited Kingdom | 81.8 | 77,561 | 380,215 | 2,240 | – |
| 12 | University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom | 81.5 | 51,015 | 299,562 | 2,003 | – |
| 13 | Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom | 81.4 | 51,331 | 297,917 | 1,756 | – |
| 14 | Zhejiang UniversityChina | 81.0 | 86,563 | 611,823 | 1,057 | – |
| 15 | Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina | 80.6 | 80,603 | 573,351 | 1,005 | – |
| 16 | University of TorontoCanada | 80.5 | 65,932 | 389,425 | 1,955 | – |
| 17 | National University of SingaporeSingapore | 80.2 | 42,900 | 330,645 | 1,179 | – |
| 18 | University of PennsylvaniaUnited States | 80.2 | 47,412 | 276,805 | 1,870 | – |
| 19 | Peking UniversityChina | 80.0 | 60,733 | 433,959 | 1,117 | – |
| 20 | University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina | 79.4 | 43,152 | 353,740 | 1,005 | – |
| 21 | The University of Texas at AustinUnited States | 79.3 | 100,951 | 132,295 | 1,263 | 1 |
| 22 | University of MichiganUnited States | 79.2 | 54,370 | 276,601 | 2,258 | – |
| 23 | University of California, San FranciscoUnited States | 79.0 | 35,743 | 220,634 | 1,943 | – |
| 24 | Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States | 78.9 | 19,369 | 94,092 | 1,199 | 1 |
| 25 | Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina | 78.7 | 49,042 | 360,941 | 940 | – |
| 26 | Fudan UniversityChina | 78.6 | 54,203 | 372,579 | 979 | – |
| 27 | Columbia UniversityUnited States | 78.4 | 40,761 | 215,986 | 1,838 | – |
| 28 | University of ZurichSwitzerland | 78.4 | 28,055 | 155,154 | 1,223 | – |
| 29 | The University of SydneyAustralia | 78.3 | 40,879 | 235,051 | 1,480 | – |
| 30 | Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore | 78.3 | 28,543 | 252,477 | 985 | – |
| 31 | Sichuan UniversityChina | 78.1 | 51,225 | 382,029 | 722 | – |
| 32 | University of California San DiegoUnited States | 78.0 | 43,384 | 236,634 | 1,881 | – |
| 33 | Central South UniversityChina | 77.9 | 45,303 | 358,267 | 705 | – |
| 34 | The University of MelbourneAustralia | 77.9 | 49,400 | 254,135 | 1,361 | – |
| 35 | University of California, Los AngelesUnited States | 77.8 | 53,016 | 249,429 | 1,949 | – |
| 36 | Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina | 77.8 | 54,255 | 362,957 | 850 | – |
| 37 | University of CopenhagenDenmark | 77.5 | 46,021 | 210,485 | 1,388 | – |
| 38 | The University of QueenslandAustralia | 77.5 | 33,632 | 208,824 | 1,540 | – |
| 39 | University of WaterlooCanada | 77.5 | 15,919 | 92,701 | 788 | 1 |
| 40 | Princeton UniversityUnited States | 77.4 | 20,274 | 128,883 | 1,573 | – |
| 41 | Yale UniversityUnited States | 77.4 | 63,806 | 255,612 | 1,941 | – |
| 42 | University of ChicagoUnited States | 77.4 | 32,884 | 160,880 | 1,780 | – |
| 43 | Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong | 77.3 | 29,507 | 265,006 | 668 | – |
| 44 | UNSW SydneyAustralia | 77.3 | 34,674 | 218,470 | 1,117 | – |
| 45 | University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom | 77.3 | 23,428 | 126,972 | 1,610 | – |
| 46 | California Institute of TechnologyUnited States | 77.2 | 16,743 | 96,473 | 1,925 | – |
| 47 | Washington University in St. LouisUnited States | 77.2 | 29,509 | 164,558 | 2,004 | – |
| 48 | Nanjing UniversityChina | 77.1 | 40,517 | 254,483 | 853 | – |
| 49 | Northwestern UniversityUnited States | 77.0 | 34,043 | 199,629 | 1,596 | – |
| 50 | City University of Hong KongHong Kong | 77.0 | 20,001 | 202,262 | 667 | – |
All 1,000 universities
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What is the 311 University Innovation Index?
The 311 University Innovation Index ranks 1,000 universities on research impact, current output, current influence and innovation links, compiled by the 311 Institute from open research data.
Which university is the most innovative?
University of Washington tops the 311 University Innovation Index.
Where does the data come from?
Research figures come from OpenAlex, the open scholarly index, published under a CC0 licence. Innovation links come from the 311 Global R&D Labs Directory.
How is this different from other university rankings?
It uses only open data and a published method, focuses on current research activity, and connects universities to the R&D labs, startups and companies in the 311 Institute directories.
How often is it updated?
Whenever OpenAlex and the 311 Institute directories are refreshed.
© 311 Institute 2015–2026. This directory, its rankings and analysis are the proprietary work of the 311 Institute and are protected by copyright and database rights. Copying, scraping, extracting or republishing any substantial part without written permission is prohibited. Licensing enquiries: contact us.
How the 311 University Innovation Index is built
Research data: OpenAlex, the open scholarly index (CC0). Checked 3 October 2026.