UniSC top in Qld, third in world

The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) has topped Queensland and been named among the world’s top two percent of universities, in a major global ranking.

In the 2023 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, UniSC was equal 29^th out of 1591 institutions worldwide.

The Clean Water and Sanitation course saw UniSC placed third in the world.

UniSC also led Queensland in Clean Water and Sanitation, Climate Action, Life Below Water (11^th globally) and Life on Land (23^rd globally) and was first-equal for Zero Hunger.

Good Health and Wellbeing, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Climate Action and Clean Water and Sanitation courses are all in the top 50 globally.

Impact Rankings are the only global performance measurement that assesses university outcomes against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UniSC Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Helen Bartlett said it was a phenomenal outcome as UniSC had its best result yet.

“To be named among the world’s top three universities for Clean Water and Sanitation is a wonderful recognition of the work we’ve been doing to embed sustainability across everything we do,” Professor Bartlett said.

“A large portion of the ranking is based on how we build and run our campuses, so we can be proud to see we are practicing our sustainability values every day and ensuring our campus operations are in alignment with these global sustainability goals.

“For example, we received full marks for our water reuse and land-sensitive waste disposal, which includes our swimming pool that is topped up from the lakes at our main campus, as well as our award-winning onsite composting system.

“We also received top marks in ‘educating for the SDGs’, which assesses how we share our sustainability knowledge.

“Our water battery – which recently won a National Energy Efficiency Award - uses solar power to save water chilling costs and is a valuable teaching tool.”

UniSC’s Life on Land and Life Under Water courses contributed to its global top-30 positions, as did the environmental research which includes coastline monitoring, forest restoration, ecology, marine and climate change research.

Psychology PhD student and Humanitarian Affairs Green Ambassador Carmine Buss, who is from Canada, was thrilled at UniSC's news.

“When I’m talking to friends back home, I’m usually saying how proud I am to be at a growing university punching above its weight, where different researchers and areas of the university are all working together towards shared sustainability goals,” she said.