KU Leuven consistently ranks among the top 100 universities in the world by major ranking tables. As of 2020, it ranks 45th in the Times Higher Education rankings, 80th according QS World University Rankings, 85th according to the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities.[9][10][11] For four consecutive years starting in 2016, Thomson Reuters ranked KU Leuven as Europe's most innovative university,[12] with its researchers having filed more patents than any other university in Europe; its patents are also the most cited by external academics.