Japanese universities rank in patents, IP revenue, and president compensation

The web media outlet University Power Ranking has released its 2026 rankings regarding university patent applications, intellectual property (IP) revenue, and annual compensation for national university heads in Japan.

In terms of patent applications, the University of Tokyo ranked first with 917 applications. Osaka University followed in second place with 771, and Kyoto University ranked third with 698. Regarding IP revenue, Kyoto University led the nation with 1.515 billion yen, followed by the University of Tokyo with 944 million yen and Osaka University with 721 million yen. The top three institutions collectively account for 44.4% of the total IP revenue among the ranked universities.

In the ranking of annual compensation for heads of national university corporations, the President of the University of Tokyo ranked first with a total of 24.887 million yen. The Tokai National Higher Education and Research System ranked second at 23.675 million yen, while Kyoto University ranked third at 23.368 million yen. The average annual compensation across the 80 surveyed corporations was 19.017 million yen.