The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings announced the results of the 2021 ranking and placed Universitas Diponegoro (UNDIP) among the 200 best universities in the world in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ranking announced on Wednesday (21/4/2021) measured the performance and success of the universities based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in supporting the achievement of the SDGs initiated by the United Nations.

There were 7 universities in Indonesia that were ranked in the 200 best in the world along with Undip, namely the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Universitas Indonesia (UI), Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and IPB University. The achievements of several universities in Indonesia should be appreciated since The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings was a rating agency which made the rankings related to the SDGs. The SDGs ranking was a reflection of the increasing quality and implementation in various fields and activities carried out by the universities in the context of the sustainable development goals.

Undip’s Rector, Prof. Dr. Yos Johan Utama SH MHum, admitted that he was grateful that this year Undip could be included in the 101-200 rankings, while in 2020 its position was in the 301-400 range. “I am grateful that there is a progress. That means we will continue to make efforts to improve the quality and qualifications,” said Prof. Yos, Thursday (22/4/2021).

According to the Rector, the ranking improvement in 2021 THE Impact Rankings was also seen on a national scale. In 2020 THE Impact Rankings on a national scale, Undip was in the 8th place. Yet, in 2021 Undip had risen to the 6th position nationally. He emphasized that the perspective on the positioning of the higher education must be seen from two contexts in a balanced way: National and Global.

Based on the assessment indicator used in the ranking, Undip had a high score on the SDGs Goal number 12 on ensuring the sustainable consumption and production patterns; goal 7 on ensuring the access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all; goal 14 on conserving and sustainably utilizing the marine, oceanic and maritime resources for the sustainable development; and goal 17 on strengthening the implementation standard and revitalizing the global partnerships for sustainable development. In each of these objectives, Undip obtained a score of 75.9; 66.8; 76.3 and 87. These overall points put Undip in position 101 – 200 with the points around 77.5 – 85.2.

Undip’s Vice Rector IV for Research and Innovation, Prof. Dr. Ir Ambariyanto MSc, expressed his gratitude to the Rector, Vice Rectors, and Leaders in Undip, all Lecturers, Staffs and all Academics and Alumni. Ambariyanto praised their contribution, participation, hard work and support in supporting Undip in achieving the SDGs implementation and towards the World Class University.

For reference, it was interesting to look up at the top five universities that were in the top five globally. In the first place was the University of Manchester. This university in the UK occupied the top position for the first time. This was also the first time that a British university had successfully led the Impact Rankings. The second position globally was occupied by the University of Sydney which last year was also in the same position. This university was also the one with the highest score for the Goal 6 on water and sanitation as it supported more than 90 study centers in the field of disease prevention, food production, transport solutions and coral conservation.

Next up, there were the RMIT University, La Trobe University and Queen’s University. The research at La Trobe University covered a fairly broad spectrum. Such as, building healthy communities, food security, water and the environment. Meanwhile, the Queen’s University had excellence in the environmental projects by their students, including The Earth Center, the Tea Room and services by students that provide free energy for the student residences. All components at this university worked together to make their campuses greener and more sustainable.

THE calibrated the indicators carefully to produce comprehensive and balanced comparisons among four areas, namely research, stewardship, outreach and teaching. Research was assessed through how the research at a university was designed to be relevant to the SDGs. Stewardship was how the university encouraged and maintained all resources including the teachers, employees and students to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. Outreach was how universities reach out the local, national and international communities. Teaching was seen from how universities ensured they had the expertise to achieve the SDG goals and how the alumni continued to bring important lessons about the sustainability into their careers.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were a global action plan agreed upon by the world leaders, including Indonesia, to end poverty, reduce inequality and protect the environment. The SDGs contain 17 Goals and 169 Targets that were expected to be achieved by 2030.

The assessment was carried out by creating research metrics using the data provided by Elsevier. For each SDGs, a special query was created to narrow down the publications relevant to the SDGs. This data was then supplemented by additional publications identified by the artificial intelligence. As well as the World University Rankings, the data were collected from a five-year timeframe between the 2015 and 2019. This methodology was developed jointly by THE with the Vertigo Ventures and Elsevier.

The ranking was based on how a university gave the impact for the achievement of the SDGs. This was based on the idea that universities and their students were the ones who understood better on how to answer the ongoing challenges ranging from the plastic crisis in the oceans and the wage inequality for women.

This year, more than 1,200 universities had sent their data and were assessed. This ranking was important for students who wanted to enter the university with the research result and university management that contributed to the achievement of the SDGs. (PR team)

Source: undip.ac.id