THE Impact Ranking: FAU is top of the league in innovation
THE Impact Ranking confirms FAU’s position at the top of the league of international universities
FAU is not only one of the most innovative universities in Germany, but also ranks first place in this area in terms of sustainability. This has been confirmed by the British educational magazine Times Higher Education (THE) in its latest “Impact Ranking”. The ranking illustrates how universities across the world contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. In Germany, FAU scores top for the topic “Good health and well-being”. In addition, the University is among the top 3 in Germany in the “Affordable and clean energy” and “Sustainable cities and communities” categories.
“We are extremely proud of the excellent results of our FAU in this important ranking,” says FAU President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger. “We are top of the table worldwide for innovation and the University has considerably improved its rankings compared with last year in two other categories, namely health and energy. We are pleased to celebrate this success.”
As one of the most innovative universities, it was easy for FAU to gain full marks in sustainability and reach the top position. In the “Industry, innovation and infrastructure” category, cooperations with industry, third-party funding and patents, initiatives such as the Digital Tech Academy, Josephs, Zollhof and the FAU Start-up Service that promotes innovative start-ups at the University were decisive factors for this outstanding result.
FAU gained first place in the “Good health and well-being” category in Germany with its comprehensive range of services for the physical and mental wellbeing of its employees and students. In an international comparison, FAU moved up from the top 30 percent of universities last year to the top 20 percent.
In the “Affordable and clean energy” category, FAU scored highly with its successful energy-saving campaign “FAUspartEnergie” launched during the energy crisis as well as with its “Future Energy Systems” key research priority, where it moved up from the top 40 to the top 20 percent of universities in the ranking.
The University also scored well in the “Sustainable cities and communities” category with its wide range of activities for the public in the region such as the Botanical Garden and the University’s collections, concerts, exhibitions, talks and open days as well as the Long Night of Sciences.
The ranking
Criteria for the THE Impact Ranking were drawn up on the basis of the 17 economic, social and ecological sustainable development goals of the United Nations in order to allow a comparison and assessment of universities across the globe. Universities were allowed to choose themselves which areas to apply for. For this year’s ranking, FAU selected the following categories from the UN Sustainability Development Goals: “Health and well-being”, “Quality education”, “Gender equality”, “Affordable and clean energy”, “Industry, innovation and infrastructure” and “Sustainable cities and communities”.
Further information
Jens Kämmler