The University of Stuttgart has once again achieved the highest possible score in the “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure” category of the Times Higher Education (THE) global sustainability rating and is ranked first worldwide.
The THE Sustainability Impact Ratings are regarded as the benchmark for assessing the extent to which universities worldwide contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations (UN) . In the “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure” category, which is based on SDG 9 and reflects the innovative capacity of universities, the University of Stuttgart once again ranks first worldwide.
The responsibility of universities
“At the University of Stuttgart, we see our research and teaching—together with the transfer of knowledge and technology to industry and society—as part of a special mission. We are responsible for future developments, innovation, and the world we live in and will pass on to future generations. The repeated outstanding success of the University of Stuttgart in the global THE Sustainability Impact Rating provides additional motivation for our daily work and confirms that we are right to focus our efforts on the goal of sustainable development,” says Prof. Manfred Bischoff, Vice Rector for Research and Sustainability at the University of Stuttgart.
Outstanding innovative capacity as a mark of continuity
The “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure” indicator in which the University of Stuttgart is one of eight institutions worldwide to share first place is regarded as a measure of the capacity for innovation of an institution. The indicator considers tangible metrics such as the number of patents based on university research and the number of spin-offs that commercialize the intellectual property of a university. Research addressing major infrastructure challenges (e.g., energy and water supply) also plays a key role. The acquisition of third-party funding from industry is also taken into account in the evaluation.
This is the third time the University of Stuttgart has held the No. 1 spot in the world for innovation. It achieved the maximum number of points in both the 2023 and 2024 rankings. In 2025, it narrowly missed the top spot with 99.9 out of a possible 100 points.
In the “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure” indicator, 826 institutions worldwide were evaluated in the 2026 rating.
Strong result in “Reduced Inequalities”
The University of Stuttgart participated in the rating with submissions in seven categories. The second-best individual result for the University of Stuttgart was in the “Reduced Inequalities” indicator, which is based on SDG 10. Out of the 932 universities ranked, the University of Stuttgart is in the 101–200 rank band.
About the THE Sustainability Impact Ratings
The Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings (formerly the “THE Impact Rankings”) are the only international university ranking that systematically analyzes the contribution of universities to the 17 SDGs of the UN. The 2026 edition evaluated 1,646 universities from 116 countries and territories.