The University of Edinburgh has again been ranked among the world’s top universities by The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings for its contribution to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings assess the social, environmental and economic impact of universities, assessing the performance of universities against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In the 2024 rankings, The University of Edinburgh achieved joint 1st in the world for SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
Leaders in innovation
SDG9 focuses on the need to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation globally.
The University scored 100 out of 100 for its contribution to this SDG, including its research, patents citing university research, research income from industry and number of University spinouts. Nine universities shared joint first place in this category, in which Edinburgh was the only UK university.
In 2022/23 over 123 student and staff startups and spinouts were supported through Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation service, attracting £107.6m of investment. Industrial and translational research projects brought in £91.9 of funding.
Dr Andrea Taylor, CEO of Edinburgh Innovations (EI), said:
This news is a fantastic reflection of the flourishing culture of innovation here at the University of Edinburgh.
Teaching and research is at the heart of what universities do. But the reason behind this activity is to create impact and make the world a better place, which we do by working with others in the public, private and third sectors, by forming companies and licensing our intellectual property.
Supported by EI, Edinburgh’s staff and students are translating their ideas and research into solutions that improve lives in areas from climate and environment to data and AI for good and future health and care, and that’s what innovation means to us. Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to placing us first in the world! ”
One example of industry innovation is the cleantech startup Danu
Robotics. Founded by data science graduate Xiaoyan Ma, Danu Robotics
works with EPCC’s supercomputing capabilities to develop a system to
automate waste sorting at recycling plants with speed and accuracy,
thereby increasing the quality of output and reducing costs.
Whole-university approach to sustainability
The University’s overall ranking for its contribution to the SDGs was 89th out of 1,963 institutions, placing it in the top 5% of universities globally.
This reflects the University’s whole-institution approach to sustainability which is deeply embedded in our research and innovation, our teaching, operations, investments and the values and passion of our people.
Professor Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University said:
It is encouraging to see our work to contribute to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals recognised in this way. To rank joint first in the world for industry, innovation and infrastructure is a huge achievement and testament to the tenacity and creativity of our staff, students and partners. I am incredibly proud of our ability to harness our research power to drive innovation and directly benefit society. By working together, we are making great strides to lead change and help tackle some of the world's greatest challenges. ”
Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024
