1. University of Cambridge

Britain's University of Cambridge has topped the list, making it the best university in the world for science.

That's not all the good news Cambridge received this month.

An anonymous American donor gave $1.85 million (£960,000) to set up an endowment fund in honour of cosmologist-author Stephen Hawking.

In 2009, the university will celebrate its 800th anniversary, making it one of the world's oldest universities.

Cambridge is the largest university in the United Kingdom (over 100 departments, faculties and schools).

Its contribution to the world has ranged from the discovery of the mechanism of blood circulation to the structure of DNA, from the great philosophers of the early 15th century to the groundbreaking work of its many Nobel Prize winners (more than 60 distinguished names feature on the list).

Information courtesy University of Cambridge.