The University of Edinburgh has retained joint 1st position in the world for its contribution to Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure for a third consecutive year in the Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings. The Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings measure universities’ success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 9 focuses on the need to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026– University Sustainability Rankings (Times Higher Education)Leading interdisciplinary innovation and research The University is one of 8 institutions to score 100 out of 100 for its contribution to this SDG. The factors deciding this result include a university's research, patents citing the university's research, research income from industry and number of spinouts.Last year, Edinburgh Innovations (EI), the University’s commercialisation service, supported the launch of 64 staff and student companies, attracting £113 million of investment. A third of this investment went into companies aligned to the University's research and innovation mission of tackling the climate and environment crisis.Four of these companies were spinouts, including SeaWarm, founded by Professor Chris McDermott of the School of Geosciences, whose heat exchanger technology harnesses natural warmth from rivers and seas to deliver affordable, sustainable heating and cooling. SeawarmAnother spinout, Concinnity Genetics, co-founded by bioengineers CEO Jessica Birt and CSO Dr Matthew Dale, raised £3m for its AI-driven gene control systems that improve the safety of gene therapies. Concinnity GeneticsIndustrial and translational research projects brought in £113m of funding across the three mission areas, including future health and care and harnessing data, digital and AI for good. The University filed 172 patent applications and entered into 62 licences for its technology and know-how. Our third consecutive year topping the ranking for industry, innovation and infrastructure demonstrates the thriving culture of mission-driven innovation we have here at the University of Edinburgh. “We translate research into social and economic impact through partnerships, licensing and company formation, aligned to our values and our three Research and Innovation Strategy missions. This accolade reflects the talent, ambition and determination of our staff, students, founders and collaborators. Thank you! Dr Andrea Taylor CEO, Edinburgh Innovations Concinnity Genetics aims to transform the safety of gene therapies. The University has also launched a new guide for those working with entrepreneurs to help them make their practice more inclusive. The Practitioner’s Guide to Inclusive Entrepreneurship Support is part of the University’s commitment to the Pathways Pledge to address women’s under-participation in entrepreneurship in Scotland and beyond. The Practitioner’s Guide to Inclusive Entrepreneurship SupportThe Pathways Pledge Ranking methodology and overall performance The Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings (previously THE Impact Rankings) assess universities against all 17 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Key criteria for evaluation include: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching. Universities are able to submit data on as many of these SDGs as they wish to, with the overall ranking based on a two-year aggregate score, and the institution's three best performing SDGs plus SDG 17. You can read more about how the rankings are calculated on the Times Higher Education Website. Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026: methodology (Times Higher Education) This year, the University’s overall ranking was 14th in the UK and 91st out of 1,646 institutions worldwide.The University submitted data for 15 out of the 17 SDGs, and placed in the top 25% for 8 of these. Each of the criteria each vary in evidence requirements and scope. Some criteria have a very narrow focus, and may not reflect all activities and progress made by each institution on a given topic. The scoring criteria also reflected the publication of the University’s SDGs Stories of Impact publication, which highlights the ways that the University has addressed the SDGs, through research and innovation, community engagement, and learning and teaching activities. Read the report: SDGs Stories of Impact The criteria where the University received the strongest scores included: Research on industry, innovation and infrastructure, patents citing university research, number of University spinouts (SDG 9) Research on climate action (SDG13) Research on health and wellbeing (SDG 3) Education for the SDGs (SDG 17) The criteria where the University received the weakest scores included: Proportion of graduates with a teaching qualification (SDG 4) Low carbon energy use and energy-use density (SDG 7 and 13) Campus food waste (SDG2) First-generation students (SDG 10) Towards a regenerative University The University published its ambitious regenerative sustainability strategy in March this year, announcing a step-change in the University’s approach to sustainability, and strengthening its commitment to reducing emissions, boost renewable energy generation on campus and restore nature across the University’s estate and beyond. ‘Regenerative sustainability: our pathway beyond net zero’ sets out the University’s plans to go further than minimising environmental harm, proactively restoring natural systems to benefit both nature and people. The strategy guides how we will address the interlinked planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and includes proof concept funding for innovative climate and environmental projects. Regenerative sustainability: our pathway beyond net zero The strategy was not published within the relevant timeframe for this year’s THE Sustainability Rankings, and therefore was not included in the submission. Related links Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026– University Sustainability Rankings [external]Edinburgh Innovations Regenerative sustainability: our pathway beyond net zero The Practitioner’s Guide to Inclusive Entrepreneurship SupportThe Pathways PledgeResearch and Innovation Strategy 2030 This article was published on Monday 29 June 2026
