USC Australia’s considerable efforts to achieve a more sustainable future for all have been recognised today in the 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings of universities.

USC was placed 26th of 1,115 universities worldwide considered by THE for its Impact Rankings – the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

With a score of 92.1 out of 100, USC is the highest-placed Queensland university in the ranking scheme that uses carefully calibrated indicators to provide balanced comparisons across four broad areas of research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.

Times Higher Education features its full methodology and rankings table on its website.

A university’s final score in the overall table is calculated by combining its score for the key category of ‘Partnership for the Goals’ with its top three scores from across any of the other 16 goals.

USC achieved an impressive equal 12th ranking for ‘Partnership for the Goals' and excelled in the categories for ‘Life Below Water’ (ranked 3rd), ‘Life On Land’ (5th), and ‘Climate Action’ (equal 45th).

Its submission to THE included details about USC leading global initiatives on integrated coastal management, its research into using seaweed to reduce methane emissions of cattle, projects with the ACIAR to boost sustainable agriculture in the South Pacific region, and the installation of a solar-powered ‘water battery’ on its Sunshine Coast campus to significantly cut grid electricity usage.

USC Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Helen Bartlett said the ranking was an outstanding result that recognised USC’s efforts to make sustainability an integral part of its teaching, research and community engagement.

“This is excellent news in light of our strategy to improve our impact across our regions as well as nationally and globally,” she said.

“Because THE uses metrics that are normalised to the size of an institution, the Impact Rankings allow for a comparison between universities of different sizes. And this has really highlighted how well USC is doing in promoting sustainable development on a global level.”

— Terry Walsh