A record 2,152 higher education institutions from 125 countries/regions have submitted data to participate in Times Higher Education’s Impact Rankings 2024, which will be revealed on Wednesday 12 June.
THE’s Impact Ranking is the world’s only one that measures universities’ contributions to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and assesses their commitment to sustainability across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.
Participation has increased by 26 per cent compared with last year and is the highest jump in three years.
Asia is the biggest player in these rankings with 1,053 universities submitting data.
- India is now the most-represented nation with 105 participating institutions
- Turkey is second with 100
- Pakistan is third with 96
- Japan is fourth with 88
Submissions from Africa have more than doubled in the past year, from 106 to 230, with Algeria and Nigeria seeing the biggest growth. Angola, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Somalia have put themselves forward for the first time. Albania, Cuba, Libya, North Macedonia and Yemen are also new entrants.
Some nations have also more than doubled their representation including Azerbaijan – from 8 last year to 18 this year – and the country is hosting this year's COP29.
Eighteen tables are published as part of the Impact Rankings – one for each of the 17 individual SDGs, plus one overall ranking. SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals) and three other SDGs are the only goals universities must provide data on to be included in the overall ranking.
The results will be announced at THE’s Global Sustainable Development Congress in Bangkok which takes place from 10-13 June. Tickets are available here.
Phil Baty, Times Higher Education’s Chief global affairs officer, said: “To appear in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, universities must submit data and evidence on their commitment to delivering the UN SDGs and subject themselves to detailed scrutiny against global standards.
“We are seeing record levels of participation across the globe and it’s great to see so many universities stepping forward to demonstrate their commitment to delivering a more sustainable future in this visionary ranking.”
THE's data team is currently assessing the data and the participation numbers may not be the same as final ranked numbers as universities could be excluded due to insufficient data.
In THE’s Impact Rankings 2023 a record 1,705 universities from 115 countries/regions were assessed and the world’s highest ranked university, in the overall category, was Western Sydney University. Australian and Canadian universities dominated the top 10 in the overall category taking three and four places respectively and Australian universities also dominate the upper echelons of the individual SDGs hitting top spot in seven out of the 17 goals.