The University of Amsterdam (UvA) has been ranked as the second best Dutch university by the newly released Times Higher Education (THE) World Reputation Rankings list 2012. Globally, the UvA is ranked in the 71-80 category of most respected universities. The new THE rankings sees the UvA moving up one spot from last year, when it was still ranked as the third best Dutch university by the same THE World Reputation Rankings.

A total of five Dutch universities are ranked in the top 100 list. Apart from the UvA, these include the TU Delft University of Technology (51-60), Utrecht University (71-80), Leiden University (91-100) and Wageningen University (91-100). The Netherlands hereby jointly holds third place with Japan on the national rankings list. Topping the national list are the United States and the United Kingdom.

Occupying first place on the THE World Reputation Rankings is Harvard University (U.S.), followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (U.S.) and Cambridge University (U.K.)

The THE World Reputation Rankings list is compiled on the basis of personal rankings lists compiled by 31,000 academics from 149 countries. The THE World Reputation Rankings list is separate from the prestigious THE World University Rankings, which is published annually.