Times Higher Education World University Rankings released

The Times Higher Education world university rankings were released today, with the US dominating the top ten places. But 2011 sees California Institute of Technology (Caltech) oust Harvard from the top spot for the first time in eight years.

While not as well-known as Harvard this side of the pond, Caltech boasts some illustrious alumni, including Richter, Borsook and Pauling and over 30 Nobels.

In the top twenty, European universities take five places; the University of Oxford in fourth, the University of Cambridge in sixth, Imperial college in eighth, ETH Zurich in fifteenth, and UCL in seventeenth.

The top ten rankings;

1. California Institute of Technology
2. Harvard University
3. Stanford University
4. University of Oxford
5. Princeton University
6. University of Cambridge
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8. Imperial College London
9. University of Chicago
10 University of California, Berkley

Yale came in eleventh spot behind many of its 'Ivy League' competitors.