THE Sustainability Impact Ratings

The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) is the university with the greatest social and economic impact in Spain. This is recognised by the 2026 THE Sustainability University Impact Ratings, the eighth edition of the ranking compiled by Times Higher Education (THE) – considered, alongside the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, commonly known as the Shanghai Ranking) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), to be one of the world's three leading indicators of university quality – and whose results were published a few hours ago.

Furthermore, the 2026 THE Sustainability University Impact Ratings once again include the UPV amongst the worldwide top 200 universities in this field and, logically, in light of the above, as the leading national technical university and the number one in the Valencian Community.

Methodology

The ranking classifies higher education institutions based on their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an initiative launched by the United Nations (UN) in 2015.

Specifically, THE calculates each institution's annual global ranking by combining its score for SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) with its three highest scores across the other SDGs. For the overall ranking, the final score is an average of the total scores from the last two years.

84th in the world for 'Decent work and economic growth' and in the global top 200 for a total of 5 SDGs

The 2026 THE University Impact Rankings, which in this edition include a total of 1,603 universities, particularly highlight the institution led by José E. Capilla in three SDGs, placing the UPV amongst the world's top 100 in these areas.

Specifically, these are SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 4 (Quality Education), in which it ranks 80th, 84th, and 99th globally, respectively.

In SDG 8, the UPV is also the top-ranked university in Spain, whilst in the other two, it holds second place nationally.

Also in the global top 200 for 'Responsible Consumption and Production' and 'Climate Action'

Alongside the three SDGs mentioned above, the UPV also features in the global top 200 for two further SDGs: SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

It is worth recalling that the 17 SDGs were officially adopted on 25 September 2015, the day on which the UN approved the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 global goals to eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity. Each of these goals has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.

The UPV, internationally recognised by all leading rankings

The ranking compiled by THE once again endorses the quality of the UPV, which has been recognised by all leading international rankings for over a decade.

Indeed, in its most recent edition, the Shanghai Ranking named the UPV as Spain's best technical university and included it, for the 21st consecutive year, amongst the best 500 universities in the world.

Similarly, the latest edition to date of the QS World University Rankings, whose results were published last week, included the UPV in the world's top 500 for the 15th consecutive year, whilst previously recognising it, in its subject-specific rankings, as the best university in Spain for studying Agricultural Sciences, Art and Design, Chemical Engineering, and Statistics and Operational Research.