The Technion was ranked in sixth place in the world for entrepreneurship and innovation, in the first comprehensive survey conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The study was performed in collaboration with Skolkovo (the Innovation Center known as Russia’s Silicon Valley). The survey aimed to identify the most innovative universities around the world.

The Technion was one of only two of the top 10 universities worldwide outside the US and Europe. (The other is the National University of Singapore.) The two top schools in the survey were MIT and Stanford University.

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The survey also cited the Technion and Imperial College London among the “emerging giants whose reputation had grown considerably in recent years.”

The study was carried out among 61 experts in 20 countries, who identified 120 universities that have brought decisive influence and major contributions to the world in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation.

In answer to the question “Which universities would you identify as having created/supported the world’s most successful innovation ecosystems,” the Technion was ranked in sixth place, after MIT, Stanford, the University of Cambridge, Imperial Collage London, and the University of Oxford. Owing to the Technion’s standing, Israel was ranked third in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation, after the United States and Great Britain, and ahead of Sweden, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, China and Canada.

The Technion was ranked first place in answer to the question “Which universities would you identify as having created/supported highly effective technology innovation ecosystems despite a challenging environment. In addition, the Technion was rated highly in the survey as an institution that “aspires to entrepreneurship and innovation, considered among the essential ingredients for achievement.”

Responding to the survey results, Technion President Professor Peretz Lavie said “the Technion’s position among the top ten leading universities in the world in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship brings us closer to fulfilling our mission goals: to be counted among the top ten leading universities in the world.

“This is not the first time the Technion has earned international acclaim such as this,” he continued. “The university’s contribution to Israel’s advanced technology industry is recognized around the world. Not by coincidence did we prevail in the New York City’s tender last year to establish a scientific-engineering research center in partnership with Cornell University.”

Founded in 1912, the Haifa-based Technion — Israel Institute of Technology is Israel’s oldest university. It counts three Nobel laureates for chemistry among its 600-plus faculty members.