Based on web traffic, social media metrics and estimated online readers (>100 million in 2015), the QS World University Rankings has been released late on Tuesday. It is, by far, the most popular annual league table of world universities.

The twelfth edition of the QS World University Rankings 2015/16 confirms the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as the world's top university followed by Harvard (2nd), The University Cambridge and Stanford University (3rd=).

ETH Zurich (9th) breaks into the top 10 while the sharpest rise in the top echelon of the table is for the two leading Singaporean universities which make the top 15 for the first time ever.

The National University of Singapore (12th) is the leading Asian institution while Nanyang Technological University (13th) takes a quantum leap, nearly closing the gap with its domestic rival. Australian National University (19th) also returns to the top 20.

UAE rankings

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates sees six universities placed on this year's ranking, the same number as the previous year.

This represents a stable overall performance for UAE's Higher Education institutions.

Leading the way is American University of Sharjah (411th-420th band), followed by the United Arab Emirates University (430th) and Khalifa University (481st-490th band).

Five universities see small rankings decreases, while the American University of Dubai (551st-600th band) sees a small increase to break into the top 600 worldwide.
Source: Gulf News