University of Ghent named best university in Belgium

As in previous years, the University of Ghent (UGent) was again elected the best university in Belgium, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, a list drawn up by the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy. UGent comes in 69th place in the ranking, several spots lower than last year, when it was number 62.

The list of the world's top 500 universities is compiled every year by two American universities (Harvard and Stanford) and one British university (Cambridge). The top 100 is dominated this year by no less than 48 American universities. The first non-US or non-British university appears in 18th place: the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. A French university (Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris) and a Dutch university (Utrecht University) also rank higher than Belgium, in 40th and 47th place, respectively.

After UGent, Belgium's best universities are KU Leuven, Université Catholique de Louvain, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and University of Antwerp, according to the ranking.

The 'ARWU ranking' has been published annually since 2003 and looks at more than 1,000 universities. A place in the top 500 is determined based on the amount of research the university publishes and how much work done by people at the university is cited in scientific journals.