Scottish universities are named in global elite list

THREE of Scotland’s universities have been included in the first-ever rundown of the world’s top 100 modern academic institutions.

Heriot-Watt, Stirling and Strathclyde all made it onto the inaugural Times Higher Education 100 Under 50, a new annual ranking published for the first time today.

The list, which ranks the world’s top 100 universities ldess than 50 years old is headed by Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea, followed by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The UK has the most universities on the list, although none is in the top five. Stirling came 50th, while Strathclyde was 71st and Heriot-Watt 72nd.

The University of York, Lancaster University and University of East Anglia come in at eighth, ninth and tenth place respectively..

Only one US university made it into the top 10 – the University of California in seventh place – while Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris make it to fifth and sixth place respectively.