Trinity is the second ranked Irish university in the 2019 Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings, placing 28th globally.
The rankings, released this afternoon, recognise the social and economic impact of universities across the world, drawing on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Trinity’s top three SDGs are Good Health and Wellbeing, Climate Action, and Sustainable Cities and Communities, for which it ranked 18th, 10th, and 37th respectively.
The seventeen SDGs provide a common framework for global action on sustainability, with a focus on major global issues such as quality education, gender equality, and an end to poverty and hunger worldwide.
Researchers in Trinity are currently engaged in over 40 projects related to the SDGS, while the Strategic Plan prioritises engagement in “actions that advance the cause of a pluralistic, just, and sustainable society”.
THE Chief Knowledge Officer Phil Baty outlined that inclusion in the rankings demonstrates a higher education institution’s “commitment not just to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals through its teaching, research and knowledge transfer, but also to embodying the goals in [the] institution’s internal practices, policies and procedures and providing verifiable evidence of [its] activities”.
This marks the first year that THE has ranked universities on social and economic impact.
The University of Auckland in New Zealand topped the rankings. UCC is the highest placed Irish university, ranked 21st, with Trinity placing second in Ireland. The University of Limerick (UL) and University College Dublin followed at 35th and 58th respectively, while Dublin City University (DCU) ranked 98th.
Trinity fell three places in the 2019 THE World University Rankings, placing 120th globally. Despite the drop, Trinity was the highest-ranked Irish university in the rankings and increased its performance in four of the five categories THE uses to rank universities.
Trinity fell 16 places in the latest QS rankings rankings, to 104th worldwide.
