That the Parliament welcomes the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2017-18, in which Scotland has five universities listed in the top 200, which is second only to Luxembourg for the number of institutions per head of population; note that the University of Edinburgh was ranked 27th and that Glasgow, St Andrews, Aberdeen and Dundee were listed 80th, 143rd, 185th and 187th respectively; understands that these rankings are considered among the world’s most comprehensive global league tables; notes that they take account of each university’s strengths in research, knowledge transfer, international outlook and teaching environment; commends all of the staff and students at the five universities on their hard work in achieving this; welcomes the Scottish Government's reported £1 billion investment in the sector in 2017-18; believes however that Brexit might pose a threat to the global performance of Scotland's institutions in light of its possible impact on both funding and attracting applications from talented international students from across the EU, but continues to endeavour to support and maintain Scotland’s position as a world leader in quality higher education.