Virginia Tech’s sustainability-focused research continues to receive international acclaim, with the university ranking in the top 10 percent of schools participating in the Times Higher Education 2024 Impact Rankings, released Wednesday.
The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings assess participating universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using a harmonized index, the THE Rankings compare universities across four areas: research, administration, outreach and teaching.
Virginia Tech’s increased research spending helped the school improve its score. The school reported that external research spending will reach a record high of $419 million in 2023, beating its goal of $410 million. This marks the second consecutive year that the school’s research spending has increased by more than 10 percent.
“Virginia Tech’s research ecosystem is thriving,” said Dan Sui, senior vice president for Research and Innovation. “Our world-class faculty are able to sustain this momentum by pushing the boundaries of traditional research through creative endeavors, innovating and collaborating, and remaining agile and evolving with technology.”
Virginia Tech, ranked 101-200 by Times Higher Education, is one of 2,152 universities from 125 countries that participated in THE’s Impact Rankings, an increase of more than 200 from last year’s group. Of the UN’s 17 SDGs, Virginia Tech applied to 10 SDGs and ranked within the top 200 globally in six of them.
Virginia Tech received the highest score in the Zero Hunger SDG, a category that recognizes the university’s research on hunger, education on food sustainability, addressing food waste and addressing hunger on campus and in the community.
The university was ranked 32nd in the world in this field, thanks in part to its focus on increasing agricultural productivity through genetic improvement, precision agriculture, soil health, and pest and disease management.
Additionally, waste minimization efforts by Virginia Tech Dining Services, which sends food waste and biodegradable food packaging to a composting facility, and Virginia Tech’s Marquette, which provides food assistance to qualifying students, also contributed to the university’s ranking. Virginia Tech continues to devote resources to Marquette, led by donations from notable alumni.
Other programs that contributed to the high score included the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service’s Food Security and Food Systems, the University’s Virginia New Farmers and Ranchers Coalition, which improves opportunities for new farmers and ranchers to maintain sustainable operations, and the Small Farm Incubator at the Catawba Sustainability Center, which helps young new farmers and ranchers gain access to land, all of which contributed to the high rankings.
Virginia Tech also ranked highly in the SDG on reducing inequalities, tying for 80th place, which focuses on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and increasing investments in health, education, social protection and decent jobs, especially for young people, migrants, refugees and other vulnerable communities.
A focus on increasing the number of women in STEM-related professions and the architecture industry contributed to the university’s score on this SDG. Additionally, Virginia Tech engineering faculty received a $1.2 million grant to study efforts to overcome isolation and academic devaluation of Black discipline-based education researchers as part of a three-year study with Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University.
Additionally, Virginia Tech Advantage, which focuses on providing a broader educational experience to financially disadvantaged Virginia undergraduates, contributed to the college’s score. Virginia Tech students not only utilize the resource to offset tuition costs, but also to secure internships that lead to future jobs.
The Office of Inclusion and Diversity’s InclusiveVT program and the Division of Student Affairs’ Services for Students with Disabilities also contributed to this high score on the SDG.
Other SDGs in which Virginia Tech ranked within the top 200 include Clean Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Development, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action and Protecting Terrestrial Ecosystems. The university ranks in the top 75th percentile among participating universities globally across these SDGs.
More information about Virginia Tech’s rankings is available online.
