[skidman]

I think you got a point here. From my experience as a junior researcher, not a student in the UK (Sheffield / Glasgow) I'd say the Anglo-Saxon way to make the most of their findings is first and foremost a very clever way of publishing them. Especially the English have refined the techniques (some would use the term 'tricks') to enlarge their scientific footprint in order to make sure they are noticed.

For the undergraduate students the university provided a very controlled and protective environment with close contact to their tutors, that much is true (and at the same time somehow weird for a German who was used to organize and plan for himself and on his own). Once they graduated some found it really hard to address tasks like time management, or not sticking to concepts that had proven unsuccessful.

I wonder what a ranking of universities is good for. It is clearly beneficial for those that depend on fees paid by foreigners or donations granted by wealthy parents in order to situate their ill-bred children. I'd like to see a ranking of universities by the share of funding that comes from applied science / cooperations with industrial initiators. And just a side note: Ugur Sahin graduated in Cologne (QS ranking 183) and Özlem Türeci graduated in Homburg, Saarland (Didn't make the QS list).

Back to Erasmus: Spending money on education is always a good investment. Spending money on the education of foreigners is an even better investment, because they will later probably return the favor and make their talents and ambitions available to their hosts. Sure, some will return to their home countries, but even those will benefit from their international network and maybe later come back to do business in the former host country.

Last but not least: The idea behind Erasmus was to offer a chance for those who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Maybe this is a strange concept for an old Etonian like Boris Johnson. Another own goal scored by BoJo, and this one was scored from a set piece.