THE Impact Ranking once more confirms FAU’s strength in innovation

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has retained its position as one of the most innovative universities not only in Germany, but worldwide. Furthermore, FAU has also been ranked as one of the world leaders in the area of sustainable consumption and affordable and clean energy in recognition of our efforts in this field. These are the findings of the latest “Impact Ranking” of the British education magazine Times Higher Education (THE). The ranking evaluates how universities across the world contribute to the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

An international leader for innovation

Like in past years, FAU has once again gained full points and defended its position as one of the leaders for the sustainable development goal “Industry, innovation and infrastructure” (SDG 9), both on a national and an international comparison. This is predominantly due to strong industrial partnerships, extensive third-party funding and patents based on research conducted at FAU. However, FAU’s success is also down to initiatives that promote start-ups at our university, such as the Digital Tech Academy, the start-up network Existency, Josephs, Zollhof or the FAU Start-up Service. On a global scale, only eleven of the total of 2,526 ranked universities from 130 countries gained this top rating, including five from Germany.

Among international leaders for responsible use of resources and energy concepts

FAU is also classed as one of the national and international leaders due to its contribution to two other sustainable development goals. Thanks to our efforts to ensure an efficient use of resources in areas such as food consumption, waste disposal, waste reduction and recycling (please refer to FAU’s Sustainability report for more details), FAU gained an excellent rating in the category “Sustainable consumption and production” (SDG 12) (international 23rd place, 1st place in Germany). Pioneering research in the FAU Profile Center “Solar”, a convincing climate action plan and successful science communication on energy issues (“Ask the experts – Solutions for the future of energy” and “FAU Insights”) brought the university excellent results in the category “Affordable and clean energy” (SDG 7) (place 55 internationally and 1st place in Germany).

Success within Germany in promoting health care, providing interdisciplinary education and regional engagement

Furthermore, FAU has achieved top rankings compared to other universities in Germany for the sustainable development goals “Good health and wellbeing” (SDG 3 – 2nd place in Germany), “Quality education” (SDG 4 – 5th place in Germany), and “Sustainable cities and communities” (SDG 11 – 5th place in Germany).

For the “Health and wellbeing” of FAU members, our university has introduced measures such as “FAU Gesund”, offering a comprehensive range of services aimed at improving physical and mental wellbeing, as well as the program “BIG” (encouraging exercise in women in difficult situations) that was developed in the Department of Sport Science and Sport in 2005, and is now being continued at various different locations.

The sustainable development goal “Quality education” (SDG 4) is aimed at encouraging the transfer of knowledge from the university to the general public. For this purpose, FAU offers events such as “#FAUwissenwollen”, in which scientists present their latest research results to laypersons. With the FAU Academy, the university has established a valuable source of continuing education.

With its strong regional networks, FAU scores in the sustainable development goal “Sustainable cities and communities” (SDG 11). Institutions such as the University Library, the Botanical Garden, the Aroma Garden and concerts from University Music all help shape the city of Erlangen. FAU’s influence radiates out into the surrounding areas with offers such as the University Days in Ansbach, Amberg, Herzogenaurach and Forchheim.

About the THE Impact Ranking

Various 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 such as research, responsible university management, knowledge and technology transfer and teaching, in order to allow a comparison and assessment of universities across the globe. Universities are allowed to choose themselves which areas to apply for. A total of 2,526 universities were ranked in the THE Impact Ranking 2025. For this year’s ranking, FAU selected the following sustainability goals: “Health and well-being”, “Quality education”, “Affordable and clean energy”, “Industry, innovation and infrastructure”, “Sustainable cities and communities”, and “Responsible consumption and production”.