Belfer Center named top university think tank

For the second year in a row and the third time in four years, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has been ranked the best university-affiliated research center in the world.

The ranking appears in the Global Go To Think Thank Index, produced annually by James McGann, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program. The purpose of the index, said McGann, is to “highlight the important role that think tanks play in civil societies and governments around the world.”

The 2014 report, which catalogued 6,618 think tanks around the world, ranked organizations in dozens of categories, relying on the assessment of over 3,500 faculty and administrators, journalists, policymakers, think tank scholars and executives, and donors.

“The Belfer Center exists to serve the policymakers of today and tomorrow with answers to the toughest questions in science and international affairs,” said the center’s director and renowned security strategist, Graham Allison. “Being recognized as a leader by this prestigious index underscores our record of real-world impact and the exceptional talent and commitment of our faculty, fellows, and staff.”

Two other Harvard centers, the Center for International Development and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, were also ranked highly in the study.

“We thank Jim McGann for his important work to raise the profile of think tanks worldwide and focus on ways we can enrich the public policy arena,” said Allison.