As it continues to gear itself towards university sustainable development, NPUST is combining the resources of all of its administrative units and seven colleges for the purpose of implementing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And at the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2022, the university’s efforts have been recognized once again.
At the THE Impact Rankings 2022, 1,524 universities from 110 countries participated in the selection processes and 1,406 universities made the final rankings. Since this time last year, NPUST has seen dramatic improvements, leaping forward 100 places overall and claiming a spot within the 201-300 tier of universities. Out of the 45 universities nationwide who participated, NPUST ranked 6th on the list, and was the 1st amongst all other universities of science and technology in Taiwan.
Times Higher Education ranked the universities based on influence related to 17 SDGs established by the United Nations. In 2022, NPUST ranked in the 101-200 tier globally for seven of the goals: (SDG1) No Poverty; (SDG2) Zero Hunger, (SDG9) Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; (SDG12) Responsible Consumption and Production; (SDG13) Climate Action; (SDG14) Life below Water; and (SDG15) Life on Land. The results can be seen as an affirmation of NPUST’s outstanding promotion of SDG topics in talent cultivation, R&D, industry-university cooperation, and social services in such areas as “Agricultural Production”, “Environmental Ecology”, “Elderly Well-being” and “Social Responsibility”.
The item in which NPUST saw the greatest improvements this year was “Partnerships for the Goals” (SDG17). In this category, the university leapt all the way from the 601-800 tier up to 201-300 in just one year – striding past 500 other schools globally and moving itself to the number 8 position domestically. NPUST also came in the top 5 in Taiwan for SDG13 (2nd) and SDG1 (3rd). These results reflect the university’s contributions towards the education of thousands of students and development of agriculture technology in Southeast Asia— helping to eliminate hunger and promote local economic prosperity. Teachers and students are also heavily focused on concepts and practices related to climate change, disaster prevention & mitigation and “net zero”.
Aligning itself with environmental sustainable development trends, NPUST has integrated the United Nations SDGs into its medium and long-term development plans. By laying roots in sustainable education, the university is fulfilling its social responsibility and exerting sustainable influence. Since 2014, NPUST has ranked No. 1 in the country every year on the GreenMetric World University Ranking. In 2021, it ranked third in all of Asia and 29th globally. From 2020 to 2022, NPUST also won three “Model Awards” and “First Prize” at the annual Global Views Monthly’s University Social Responsibility (USR) Awards. This year it was awarded first prize in the technical group in the newly added “Comprehensive Performance” category. In 2021, NPUST also won the Platinum Award in the “University” group at the Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards—each of these demonstrating NPUST’s successful implementation of sustainable development goals in academics, education and research and development in a diversity of fields.
