Dal ranks among the world's top 100 universities in social impact

According to the new Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings, Dalhousie is among the top 100 universities in the world.
 
The Impact Rankings launched last year and are the only global rankings to document evidence of universities’ impact on society, rather than just research and teaching performance. They include metrics based on all 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals across three broad areas: research, outreach and stewardship.
 
Dalhousie ranked 85 among the 767 institutions from 85 countries that participated. There were 19 institutions in Canada that took part, and Dalhousie was the only university in Atlantic Canada to be recognized.

“Achieving standing in the top 100 universities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings is something we should all take great pride in,” says Deep Saini, Dal president and vice-chancellor. “Taking our place among the best in the world shows the profound difference our work is making in the lives of our students, our communities and around the globe.”

Global impact

A university’s final score in the Impact Rankings is a measure of how well they are addressing the world’s most pressing issues in these areas. The top performance areas for Dalhousie included SDG 14 (Life Below Water); SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing); SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities); and SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).

These rankings are an acknowledgement of the incredible research being done by hundreds of faculty and students at Dalhousie University,” says Alice Aiken, vice-president research and innovation at Dalhousie University. “They also demonstrate that by leveraging our greatest research strengths, and by partnering with others globally, we are able to focus our efforts on solving some of the most complex global issues facing humankind.”

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals can be found throughout Dalhousie University’s Strategic Direction for Research and Innovation. The university’s five signature research clusters and two cross cutting themes are all grounded in specific Sustainable Development Goals.

"It is tremendous that Dalhousie has been recognized for its exceptional and strategic contributions to the UN’s SDG14 (Life Below Water),” says Dr. Sara Iverson, Scientific Director of the Ocean Tracking Network.

“Dalhousie has demonstrated its world leadership through its highly innovative interdisciplinary work that is spread across many faculties and departments and through its ground-breaking international research initiatives, such as the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) network, and the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI), among others, all of which are working towards healthier and more sustainable oceans and communities across the globe."

Additional information about the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings can be found here.