First place in THE Impact Ranking 2023

June 1, 2023, Nr. 30

The University of Stuttgart takes first place globally in industry, innovation and infrastructure in THE Impact Ranking 2023.

The University of Stuttgart has achieved the highest possible score in the current international "THE Impact Ranking 2023" of the British "Times Higher Education" magazine and thus ranks first worldwide in the category "Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure" (SDG 9) together with the TU Munich, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and the University of Twente.

A decisive factor in achieving this excellent result was the University of Stuttgart's outstanding performance in the number of publications in fields that are important for sustainable industry, innovations, and infrastructure. Furthermore, the university's research cited in patents, the number of spin-offs established, and the amount of external industry funding also contributed to the excellent ranking. In line with the United Nations' ninth Sustainable Development Goal, the University of Stuttgart is making a particularly strong contribution to building resilient infrastructure, promoting broad-based and sustainable industrialization, and supporting innovation.

Since 2019, the British magazine "Times Higher Education" has been examining the social impact of universities in the area of sustainability in 17 categories for its "THE Impact Ranking," which is based on the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. For this annual ranking, participating universities can decide for themselves for which of the 17 categories they wish to submit supporting evidence. In addition to Sustainable Development Goal 17 "Partnership for the Goals", only the top three sustainability areas at each university are considered for the overall ranking.

More than 1,700 universities from 115 countries participated in this year's THE Impact Ranking. The University of Stuttgart participated in the ranking for the first time and took part in a total of ten categories. The University of Stuttgart achieved the best results in the areas of "Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure," "Climate Action," as well as "Decent Work and Economic Growth," "Sustainable Cities and Communities," and "Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions."

Expert Contact:

Dr. Margarete Altmann, University of Stuttgart, Reporting/ Rankings Office, phone: +49 711 685 82821, Email

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