Cambridge and Oxford are the best universities in the world for science, according to a global survey of academics published December 9. Cambridge was top of the league table of 100 universities, well ahead of Oxford and third-placed Harvard. Imperial College, London, was ranked tenth.

The three British universities were the only European representatives in the top ten. American universities claimed six places and Japan’s Tokyo University was the only leading institution from outside the US and Britain. The rankings were compiled by the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), which asked 1,300 active academics in 88 countries to identify the top university in their areas of expertise.

David Secher, director of research services at Cambridge, said: "It is pleasing but perhaps not surprising that the home of Newton, Darwin, Crick and Watson and now Stephen Hawking is perceived as the world leader in science. "We are clear that there is a leading group of universities in the US and the UK against which we benchmark ourselves. It is also clear that there are no European universities outside the UK in this group and we want as a nation to be sure not to sacrifice this position."

Cambridge announced yesterday that it had been given $1.85 million (￡960,000) by an anonymous American donor to honour the life and work of Professor Hawking. The money will establish an endowment fund in the scientist’s name, with ￡300,000 used to bolster and sustain research at the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics.

辅助阅读：12月9日公布的一份关于全球学术机构的调查结果显示，英国的剑桥大学和牛津大学是世界上自然科学研究领域最好的大学。在大学百强排名表中，剑桥大学名列第一，超过了排在第二的牛津大学和第三的哈佛大学。伦敦皇家学院排名第十。