The World’s Top Universities Recently a copy of the latest ranking of the world’s top universities has been released by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a leading global career and education network. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) continues to rank first. Harvard University moves up one place from the year of 2012 to the No.2 position. University of Cambridge drops from the previous year’s second place to the third in 2013. The following are the top 3 universities in the world (2013). Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in the state of Massachusetts. Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European polytechnic university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. Researchers worked on computers, radar, and inertial guidance during World War II and the Cold War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus. The current 168-acre campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile along the northern bank of the Charles River basin. It has its academic staff of 1,030 and students of 11,301 with 4,528 undergraduates and 6,510 postgraduates. The motto of MIT is “Mind and Hand”. With five schools and one college which contain a total of 32 departments, MIT is traditionally known for research and education in the physical sciences and engineering, and more recently in biology, economics, linguistics, and management as well. MIT is often cited as one of the world’s top universities. Till 2014, 81 Nobel laureates, 52 National Medal of Science recipients, 45 Rhodes Scholars, 38 MacArthur Fellows, and 2 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT. MIT has a strong entrepreneurial culture and the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as the eleventh largest economy in the world. Harvard University Established in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. The University, which is based in Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts, has an enrollment of over 20,000 degree candidates, including undergraduates, graduates, and professional students. Harvard has more than 360,000 alumni around the world. Harvard University is world-famous for its devotion to excellent teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally. Harvard’s faculty are engaged with teaching and research to push the boundaries of human knowledge. For students who are excited to investigate the biggest issues of the 21st century, Harvard offers an unparalleled student experience and a generous financial aid program. Harvard University is made up of 11 principal academic units — ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The ten faculties oversee schools and divisions that offer courses and award academic degrees. The University has twelve degree- granting schools in addition to the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, offering a truly global education. The Harvard Library — the largest academic library in the world — includes 18.9 million volumes, 174,000 serial titles, an estimated 400 million manuscript items, 10 million photographs, 56 million archived web pages, and 5.4 terabytes of born- digital archives and manuscripts. Access to this rich collection is provided by nearly 1, 000 library staff members who operate more than 70 separate library units. The motto of Harvard is “Veritas” (Latin for “truth”). It has 47 Nobel Laureates, 32 heads of state, 48 Pulitzer Prize winners. University of Cambridge University of Cambridge is rich in history — its famous colleges and university buildings attract visitors from all over the world. But the University’s museums and collections also hold many treasures which give an exciting insight into some of the scholarly activities, both past and present, of the University’s academics and students. University of Cambridge is one of the world’s oldest universities and leading academic centres, and a self- governed community of scholars. Its reputation for outstanding academic achievements is known world-wide and reflects the intellectual achievements of its students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and the Colleges. Many of the University’s customs and unusual terminologies can be traced to roots in the early years of the University’s long history. And there are several events coming up at the University such as What’s on (hundreds of talks, workshops and performances are open to the public at the University), Open Cambridge Weekend (the annual event offers a wide range of walks, talks, tours, exhibitions, and special activities, celebrating local history, architecture, art and gardens), Bridge the Gap Charity Walk (in conjunction with Open Cambridge, the annual Bridge the Gap Walk gives local residents the opportunity to walk through the scenic grounds of Cambridge Colleges while raising funds for local charities), Cambridge Festival of Ideas (it takes place every October and celebrates the arts, humanities and social sciences through hundreds of talks and hands- on activities for all ages) and Cambridge Science Festival (it will feature over 250 events for all ages exploring subjects from astronomy to zoology, with demonstrations, hands-on experiments and talks from leading scientists).