in Global Japanese Studies for graduate students, one of the Graduate Programs for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies. Academic alliances Osaka University has completed academic exchange agreements with a large number of universities (92 as of 2011) throughout the world and also exchange agreements between schools at Osaka University and schools and institutes in other countries (366 as of 2011). These agreements facilitate the visits of international students studying at Osaka University and the travel of Osaka University students studying at overseas universities, schools, and institutes. In many cases students are able to participate in these exchange agreements without paying additional tuition. Osaka University's academic alliances include Cornell University (1989), Harvard University (2008), Stanford University (2008), and the California Institute of Technology (2008) in the United States, McGill University (1996) and the University of Toronto (1999) in Canada, Seoul National University (2000) and Yonsei University (1998) in South Korea, Peking University (2001) and Tsinghua University (2004) in China, the National University of Singapore (2008), and Australian National University (1995). In Europe, alliances include the University of Bologna (2006), University of Geneva (2007), and the University of Cologne (1982). Allied institutions in the United Kingdom include the University of Oxford (1997) and Imperial College London (2006). Academic rankings Osaka University is considered one of the most prestigious universities in Japan, as seen in various foreign and domestic rankings. Internationally, Osaka University was ranked 71st among the world's best universities and the third best Japanese university in 2020 according to the QS World University Rankings produced by Quacquarelli Symonds. Osaka University is third in Japan and 53rd worldwide in the 2019 Center for World University Rankings. It is also ranked third in Japan in the 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Domestically, the university was ranked third in 2009 and fourth in 2008 and 2010 in the ranking "Truly Strong Universities" by Toyo Keizai, which measures alumni productivity. Osaka University is one of the most productive research institutions in Japan. According to Thomson Reuters, Osaka University among the three top research universities in Japan and is the second most innovative university in the country (22nd worldwide). Its research is noted in such fields as immunology (first in Japan and fourth in the world), material science (fourth in Japan, fifteenth in the world), and chemistry (fifth in Japan, fourteenth in the world). also reported that Osaka University has the seventh highest research funding per