The University’s sustainability concept makes it into the Times Higher Education Ranking

11 April 2019, by Viola Griehl

Photo: UHH/Schell

Universität Hamburg ranks 60th in the University Impact Ranking conducted by the Times Higher Education (THE).

In the most recent international University Impact Ranking conducted by Times Higher Education (THE), Universität Hamburg has ranked 60th. Above all, the University has been recognized for implementing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in exemplary fashion.

Every year the British magazine for higher education, Times Higher Education (THE), ranks universities worldwide according to their reputations for research and teaching. Now, for the first time, the THE has ranked international universities according to the impact of their scholarly and scientific activities on the general public. A major criterion is the university’s impact on society, based on how successfully it has implemented the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). More than 450 universities from over 75 countries took part in the University Impact Ranking. Universität Hamburg ranked among the world’s best 60 universities for Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), with a ranking of 51, and for Quality Education (SDG 4), with a ranking of 29.

The University made a special impression in the areas of Quality Education, Health and Well-Being, and Gender Equality. What do Professor Dr. Alexander Bassen from the Center for a Sustainable University (KNU) and Dr. Angelika Paschke-Kratzin, the equal opportunity commissioner, think?

Professor Bassen, what role do the SDGs play in research, teaching, and the administration at Universität Hamburg?

We are good at transporting substance for the term “sustainable development.” For example, for all 17 SDGs, we have found researchers to act as patrons. Furthermore, the University has created an online map depicting all sustainability projects in research, teaching, the administration, or infrastructure that have a connection to one or more of the SDGs. And at the annual Action Days for Sustainability, the SDGs provide the framework so that it is easier to understand the sheer breadth of sustainability at the University.

Dr. Paschke-Kratzin: What does Universität Hamburg do for gender equality that other universities don’t?

Gender equality is a cross-cutting issue with a long-established tradition at the University. Among other things, this has resulted in an academic staff with 34% women professors—a percentage far above the average. The first guidelines on gender equality at Universität Hamburg go back more than 34 years. Since then, they have been repeatedly updated and expanded and we have analyzed their impact. In 2015, our guidelines to promote equal opportunities for women became a general equal opportunity guideline. This has since been supplemented by a centralized equal opportunity plan and, most recently, by a diversity plan. Not only has the University structured its equal opportunity work; it also offers over 100 specific equal opportunity measures. Since 2018, there has been a separate database for these which provides a targeted overview of the measures.