Impact Rankings show stars shine everywhere

Browse the full Impact Rankings 2023 results. To participate in next year’s Impact Rankings, email us

“Yes, we educate. Yes, we do research. But if we are not making an impact and making a difference, then we are not fulfilling the goal of our existence.”

This statement from Clare Pollock, deputy vice-chancellor and provost of Western Sydney University, is unequivocal about what universities are for. It also encapsulates in a couple of sentences the raison d’être of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which have this year grown to include 1,705 universities from 115 countries.

If the World University Rankings provide a framework for measuring the strengths of the research-led heavyweights of global higher education, the Impact Rankings offer a different perspective.

By drawing on a combination of policy, practice and data, all focused on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the Impact Rankings provide a view of university performance that puts those traditional elites alongside institutions with very different, and often more locally focused, missions.

Impact Rankings 2023: results announced

This year’s results demonstrate the value of such an approach, highlighting a simple truth: that far from being ivory towers, universities of every size and type are at the forefront of addressing the most pressing problems facing the world, with the great advantage that they are embedded in communities pretty much everywhere.

This is important because the SDGs address issues that affect us all, but not necessarily in the same ways. And so while it is crucial to have the research elites grappling with these challenges, it is vital, too, to have engagement and focus from universities that understand and operate effectively within differing national, regional and local ­contexts.

To that end, it is heartening to see the improved performance of universities outside the household names, and the growing number of ranked universities in Africa and the Asean nations.

Look beyond the individual universities to national and regional groupings, and these rankings also offer a snapshot of the areas attracting the most attention in different parts of the world.

Europe, for example, is relatively over-represented within the SDGs focused on decent work and economic growth (SDG 8); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11); and peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16).

The 106 African universities participating in the rankings, meanwhile, are most active within the pillars of no poverty (SDG 1); clean water and sanitation (SDG 6); and reduced inequalities (SDG 10).

What this reflects is that while universities share the same foundations of teaching, research and innovation, they are also moulded by a combination of factors, many of which are context specific.

It is worth noting, too, that the Impact Rankings differ from our more established World University Rankings in their dynamism – they are growing fast, and this year we have updated some of the questions asked of participants (relating to SDGs 3, 4, 11, 16 and 17 specifically). As befits a ranking that is expanding so rapidly, we have also instituted new, more comprehensive validation of submissions.

All of that has contributed to movement within the ranking that might be unexpected to those familiar with the relatively stable World University Rankings. Our data team has taken steps to moderate any volatility in the overall ranking by combining results from the past two years.

As an organisation that ranks universities, THE is always thinking about what it does and the impact that it has on the global sector it serves.

By providing a spotlight on the most important work that universities do, as well as an evidence base and incentive to encourage even sharper focus on the challenges addressed by the SDGs, these rankings encapsulate our mission: to help universities everywhere to deliver transformational impact.

john.gill@timeshighereducation.com

Countries/regions represented in the overall Impact Rankings 2023

Note: table excludes countries with only one university in the ranking