Twelve universities from Poland are included in the latest THE Impact Rankings 2021, published yesterday on April 21st by Times Higher Education, partner of PCG Academia. The number of Polish universities on the list is two times higher than ever before!

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ranking aims to show the importance of universities in building a sustainable world and promote universities that work to solve the greatest challenges of our time.

THE Impact Rankings, although recently created – the first edition was published in 2019 – has gained immense popularity and is growing in importance every year. In this edition, 1,115 institutions from 94 countries around the world were classified in the main ranking. Among them, there are 12 Polish universities – twice as many as in the previous editions of the ranking combined!

Which Polish universities can be found in THE Impact Rankings 2021? These are:

  • places 601-800
    • Gdańsk University of Technology
    • Medical University of Warsaw
    • University of Warsaw
  • places 801-1000
    • Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
    • AGH University of Science and Technology
    • University of Gdańsk
    • Lodz University of Technology
    • University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
    • SGGW – Warsaw University of Life Sciences
    • Wrocław University of Science and Technology
    • University of Wrocław
  • places 1001+
    • Warsaw University of Technology

Among the classified universities, we have five that were present in the previous edition: University of Warsaw, University of Gdańsk, AGH University of Science and Technology, Gdańsk University of Technology and Wrocław University of Science and Technology. The other Polish universities made their debuts this year.

In case of Medical University of Warsaw, the only medical university in Poland in the ranking, the debut was exceptionally successful. The university was among the top three Polish universities in the overall ranking, as well as, inter alia, in the high group 100-200 in the SDG-3 Good health and well-being. A very well debut was made also by Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, which runs, among others, AMU Academy of Sustainable Development (Akademia Zrównoważonego Rozwoju UAM) and AMU Collaboratory (KOLaboratorium UAM) programs for the citizens of the Greater Poland region.

In addition to the main ranking, Times Higher Education has also created tables for each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The most Polish institutions were classified in the SDG 17 Partnerships for the goals table – every Polish universities in the ranking was included. Among them, the University of Warsaw ranked highest in the group of 301-400. Seven universities from Poland were classified in the tables SDG 4 Quality education and also seven in the SDG 10 Reduced inequalities.

Particularly good results in individual rankings were achieved by Gdańsk University of Technology, which acquired places 101-200 in two tables: SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure and SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions.

Also worth highlighting is the University of Gdańsk, which was ranked 101-200 in the SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities, and – as the only Polish university – in the SDG 14 Life below water table. In turn, the SGGW Warsaw University of Life Sciences was the only university in the SDG 15 Life on land, where it was ranked 101-200, and the University of Warmia and Mazury was the only one in the SDG 2 Zero hunger (rank 301-400).

We encourage you to check the university’s results in individual SDGs!

Last year’s edition of the THE Impact Rankings included five Polish universities, and the first edition only one. This year’s ranking results are therefore a huge step forward for Polish universities. Hence, we sincerely congratulate all universities that have taken part in the ranking and we applaud their efforts in acting for a better tomorrow.

You will learn more about the results of THE Impact Rankings during the webinar “ THE Impact Rankings 2021 – Polish universities in the global context“, which we co-organize with Times Higher Education. Together with the experts from THE, we will discuss how to interpret the results of Polish universities in individual indicators and much more.

The webinar will be held on May 19th at 1:30 PM. Participation is free. You can register on our website. We cordially invite you to join us!