Dutch Wageningen tops MIT, Harvard and Oxford in new global industry research index as Japan takes three of top five

Harvard co-wrote the most research with industry yet ranks 31st of 1,038 universities, though its Google tie-up wins Global Industry Partnership of the Year.

LONDON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, October 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A Dutch life sciences university has outperformed the world’s most famous names in a new global ranking built entirely on verified research that universities co-write with companies.

Wageningen University & Research is No. 1 in the inaugural Industry Collaboration Index (ICI), published today by Global Research Partnerships (GRP). MIT is No. 2, and Japan takes three of the top five places through The University of Tokyo, Kyoto University and The University of Osaka. Cambridge is No. 10, Oxford No. 29 and Harvard No. 31.

How Wageningen won

Wageningen co-wrote 1,518 verified works with industry, 2.24 times what its mix of fields would predict, and worked with FrieslandCampina and Danone in every year analysed. It leads Agriculture and Food Technology (1 of 194), and its industry research is cited 4.74 times the world average for comparable work. MIT’s is cited 6.83 times.

The Harvard paradox

Harvard co-wrote more verified research with companies than any other university analysed, yet sits at No. 31. The ICI rewards co-creation, durability and breadth as well as scale, and Harvard’s partners work across fewer fields than most. It still leads three sector rankings, including Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics (1 of 638), and its partnership with Google, which produced 216 joint works and was active every year from 2021 to 2025, wins Global Industry Partnership of the Year.

Japan’s industry strength comes into focus

Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka sit far lower in GRP’s Research Collaboration Index (RCI), which measures collaboration between universities, at 149th, 281st and 378th of 1,195. NTT is a top-three industry partner of all three. The pattern runs both ways: The University of Hong Kong, No. 1 in the RCI, is No. 261 in the ICI. Read together, the two indices reveal strengths neither shows alone.

Awards decided by evidence, not panels

Each of the 22 Sector Awards goes to the highest partnership score in its category, with no panel, nomination or payment. Oxford wins twice, with Google in Artificial Intelligence and Rolls-Royce in Aerospace and Aviation. MIT wins with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Seoul National University with Samsung, and Nagoya University with Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories.

A shifting global picture

Europe holds 46 of the top 100 places, North America 38 and Asia-Pacific 16, ten of them Japanese. Yet mainland Chinese universities lead 14 of the 20 published sector rankings, Tsinghua five of them, including Artificial Intelligence (1 of 292). The highest-placed universities elsewhere are King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in the Middle East (No. 216), Universidade de São Paulo in Latin America (No. 363) and the University of the Witwatersrand in Africa (No. 467).

Measuring what other rankings miss

Most global rankings rest on reputation surveys, publications and citations, treating collaboration as a minor indicator at most. The ICI measures it directly, with no surveys or self-reported figures. From 2021 to 2025, the 1,192 universities analysed co-wrote 429,958 verified works with 40,786 company groups. GRP checked 2,070,335 candidate university-company links against authors’ own affiliation text, confirming 1,148,566, and every position was tested across 200 re-runs with the evidence resampled and the weights varied.

“Co-authored research is one visible, checkable trace of how universities and companies work together, and it deserves evidence as careful as any citation count,” said Daniel Llewellin, spokesperson for Global Research Partnerships.

Building on the RCI

Since the RCI launched on 15 September, universities from Arizona to Sydney, Paris and Warsaw have celebrated their results. “I am incredibly proud that Queen Mary has been ranked 25th in the world for our research collaborations,” said Professor Colin Bailey CBE, President of Queen Mary University of London, in the university’s announcement.

From rankings to action

The GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform opens to partner universities on Monday 19 October. It turns both indices and funder records into practical intelligence, helping teams confirm peers, find university and company partners, match live funding calls and brief their boards. It cannot change any university’s position. GRP confirms availability and pricing with each university, and onboarding takes three days.

Early access: https://www.globalresearchpartnerships.com/platform/#first-access
Full results: https://www.globalresearchpartnerships.com/ici/
Media enquiries: https://www.globalresearchpartnerships.com/ici/press/

Daniel Llewellin
Global Research Partnerships
+44 7345 032639
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