Dear colleagues,
The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings were published yesterday and I am pleased to report that the University has ranked =84th in the world and 14th in the UK.
While this represents a drop of 36 places from last year globally and a drop of four places in the UK, it is worth noting that the THE Impact Ranking is the largest and fastest growing university ranking in the world with another 355 institutions joining this year, bringing the total number of participating institutions to 2318.
THE Impact moved to a two-year aggregate ranking methodology a couple of years ago which means that this year’s rank is a measure of performance from our 2024 and 2025 submissions. Internal calculations indicate that the University’s single year rank last year was around 80th, meaning that our performance is on par with last year. Against this backdrop, it is pleasing to see the University retain its global top 100 position for the third year running.
The Times Higher Education Impact Ranking captures universities’ impact on society and the environment based on their success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As in previous editions, the University is ranked for its three strongest (scaled) SDGs along with SDG17 which is mandatory.
- SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities (49th globally – a drop of 32 places since last year
- SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production (18th globally – a rise of 38 places)
- SDG 15 Life on Land (55th globally - a rise from 101-200th last year)
- SDG 17 Partnership for the Goals (101-200th globally - a drop from =75th last year) (mandatory for ranking)
The University has also been ranked within the top 100 in the world for a further three SDGs:
- SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation (89th globally - a rise from 101-200th last year)
- SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities (=87th globally – a drop of 30 places)
- SDG 13 Climate Action (50th globally – a rise of 40 places)
As you will know, Sustainability is a key strand of our Aberdeen 2040 Strategy where we have committed to encouraging our community to work and live sustainably, educate staff and students to be leaders in protecting the environment, excelling in research that addresses the climate emergency, enables energy transition and the preservation of biodiversity, and achieving net zero carbon emissions before 2040.
Our continued success in the Impact Rankings demonstrates the impact that our work is having, globally and in our region. The University’s Sustainable Development Goals Annual Report for 2023-24 gives good insight into the exciting work carried out by our University community to tackle the issues facing global society today. To highlight just a few examples:
- SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation: Research carried out by Aberdeen in collaboration with James Hutton Institute, SRUC and the British Geological Survey has found that surface water scarcity events could double by 2050.
- SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities: The University was awarded its first Race Equality Charter (REC) Bronze award in 2024, in recognition of its commitment to advancing race equality.
- SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities: A Business School study has found that language skills are a key factor in explaining residential segregation and in understanding immigrant residential environments.
- SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production: Within the School of Natural & Computing Science, colleagues in Chemistry are developing a new method of recycling critical elements from electronic devices to create a more efficient, safe and clean recycling route for electrochemicals.
- SDG 13 Climate Action: University experts are collaborating with partners in India in a £1m research project to improve understanding of the risks of landslides and to mitigate the impact on those affected.
- SDG 15 Life on Land: A major new cross-disciplinary doctoral training programme is being established to train the next generation of scientists in the use of AI to promote sustainable agriculture, in collaboration with the Universities of Lincoln, Strathclyde and Queens University Belfast.
- SDG 17 Partnership for the Goals: The University is participating in a major consortium aimed at providing the UK administrations with evidence to develop policies that will drive the land transformation required to achieve net zero by 2050.
You can access a full analysis of the THE Impact Ranking results via the Planning and Governance webpages, while more information on our work on sustainability can be found at our dedicated sustainability webpages.
Best wishes
Pete
Professor Peter Edwards
Acting Senior Vice-Principal