The ranking assesses more than 2,500 universities for their impact regarding the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals. The Universitat Rovira i Virgili is among the 300 best in the world.

Times Higher Education magazine has published the seventh edition of the University Impact Rankings, which measure the impact that universities around the world have in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. The ranking also ranks universities globally and has placed the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in positions 201-300 out of the 2,526 universities listed, which is 563 more than last year.

This makes the URV the joint fourth university in Spain, along with seven other institutions – Miguel Hernández University, University of Girona, University of Malaga, University of Murcia, University of Vigo, King Juan Carlos University and IE University. The URV is also the second Catalan university, a position it shares with the University of Girona and which is only surpassed by the University of Barcelona.

Leading the overall ranking is Western Sydney University, which stands out for its partnerships with external entities, followed by the University of Manchester, a leader in the sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems, and Kyungpook National University in South Korea, with an excellent rating in industrial innovation.

The best Catalan university in Green Energy, Reduction of Inequalities and Eradication of Poverty

The Universitat Rovira i Virgili stands out especially in the categories of Gender Equality, in which it is 44th in the world, and Green and Affordable Energy, in which it is 79th. At the national level, the URV is the best university in Gender Equality, followed by the International University of Catalonia and the University of Vigo. In the category of Green and Affordable Energy, the URV is in fourth place in Spain -surpassed only by the University of Jaén, the University of Miguel Hernández and the University of Vigo- and is the best-rated Catalan university in this area.

Beyond that, the URV occupies positions below the top 200 in the world in other SDGs such as Climate Action (fourth in Spain and tied with nine universities), Quality Education (fifth in Spain, tied with three universities and second in Catalonia behind the UB), Reduction of Inequalities (second in Spain, tied with four universities and the best rated in Catalonia) and Eradication of Poverty (first position in Spain with two other universities and first in Catalonia).

The THE ranking evaluates universities in terms of their compliance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For each SDG, a set of indicators has been identified from different sources, including data submitted by the universities themselves and data on publications and citations. The overall score takes into account goal 17, which assesses the institution’s partnerships with external entities to achieve the goals, and the three SDGs for which the institution has the best score. The final score is derived from the average of the scores of the current and previous two editions.

Details of the ranking can be found on the Times Higher Education website.