The best universities in Europe for tech

Getting a computer science degree is still one of the best ways to start out in tech.

We broke down the QS World University Rankings by subject and region, to find the top colleges for computer science and information systems in Europe.

The ranking, created by British publisher Quacquarelli Symonds, is based on an institution’s reputation with academics and employers, and the number of research citations the school gets per paper.

20. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich is one of Germany’s oldest universities, and is ranked 20th in Europe for computer science. Some of the school’s graduates have gone on to work at Google’s Swiss offices.

19. You don’t even need to study computer science at the London School of Economics to make it in tech. Former CEO and cofounder of taxi app Hailo Jay Bregman holds an MSc in Communications from LSE.

18. Lomonosov Moscow State University is the best place to study computer science in Russia, and is the only Russian school to make it into the QS top 20.

17. KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden has some famous tech alumni. Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek studied here, as did SoundCloud founders Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss.

16. Germany’s first email was received at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in August 1984. The school comes in third for computer science in the country.

15. King’s College London is ranked 15th for computer science in Europe. While the school is famous for its literary alumni, Foursquare cofounder Naveen Selvadurai studied here for five months during his junior year.

14. KU Leuven is Belgium’s best university for computer science, and the only one to make it into QR’s top 20.

13. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin is the second-best university to study computer science in Germany. The founders of Marxist theory Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels also attended the school.

12. Ecole Normale Supérieure is the best university to study computer science in France. The French grand école — a higher education establishment outside the framework of the public university system — was conceived during the French Revolution.

11. Delft University of Technology is the best university for computer science in the Netherlands. It is even better for engineering, coming sixth in Europe, and has designed its own humanoid robot and solar-powered race car.

10. University of Manchester is the north of England’s top university for computer science. Skyscanner CEO Gareth Williams studied mathematics and computing and met the site’s cofounders here.

9. The first European centre of electronic computation was opened at Politecnico di Milano in 1954. It is now the best place to study computer science in Italy, according to QS.

8. Technische Universität München is the best place to study in Germany if you want to take computer science. The research university has campuses in Munich, Garching and Freising-Weihenstephan.

7. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is Switzerland’s second-best university for computer science. It was the birthplace of the Archimedean oath, an ethical code of practice for engineers and technicians, similar to the Hippocratic oath used by medics.

6. University College London (UCL) comes in sixth in Europe and fifth in the UK for computer science. Tech aside, the college’s most famous alumni is Mahatma Ghandi.

5. Imperial College London is one of England’s top three universities for computer science, and is ranked sixth-best in Europe. Science fiction author H.G Wells studied here.

4. University of Edinburgh is Scotland’s top school for computer science, and the UK’s third. The city has one of the largest tech startup clusters outside London.

3. ETH Zurich is the top university for computer science in Switzerland and mainland Europe, according to QS. The college’s most famous alumni is theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.

2. The cluster of hardware and software companies based in Cambridge, dubbed “Silicon Fen,” owes its success to the science and engineering talent coming out of the university.

1. Oxford is the top university for computer science in the UK and Europe. Google Ventures has invested in in an accelerator based on the campus, and acquired two AI startups spun out from the University, Dark Blue Labs and Vision Factory, through Deepmind.

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Lucy covers technology at Business Insider UK, based in London.

Image: A profile of students taking their seats for the diploma ceremony is shown. REUTERS/Brian Snyder.