Global rankings spotlight Virginia Tech’s sustainability, food security efforts

Virginia Tech’s research emphasis on sustainability continues to receive international acclaim as the university was ranked 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 Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). THE rankings use calibrated indicators to compare universities across four areas: research, stewardship, outreach, and teaching.

Virginia Tech’s increase in research expenditures aided in the university’s scoring. The university reported a record $419 million in extramural research expenditures in 2023, surpassing its goal of $410 million. The university’s research expenditures grew by more than 10 percent for the second straight year.

“Virginia Tech’s research ecosystem is thriving,” Dan Sui, senior vice president for research and innovation, said. “We are able to maintain this momentum because our world-class faculty are committed to innovating and collaborating across traditional boundaries of research through creative activities while also being nimble and evolving with technology.”

Virginia Tech, ranked in the 101-200 range by Times Higher Education, was one of 2,152 schools from 125 countries to participate in THE’s Impact rankings – an increase of more than 200 schools from last year’s group. Of the United Nation’s 17 SDGs, Virginia Tech made submissions for 10 and registered top-200 marks globally in six of those 10.

Virginia Tech’s top mark came in the SDG of Zero Hunger, a category that considers a university’s research on hunger, their teaching of food sustainability, a commitment to tackling food waste, and a commitment to addressing hunger on campus and locally.

The university, bolstered in part because of a focus on increased agriculture productivity through improved genetics, precision agriculture, soil health, and pest and disease management, finished No. 32 globally in this category.

In addition, the waste minimization initiative in Virginia Tech Dining Services that sends food waste and biodegradable food packaging to composting facilities and The Market of Virginia Tech, which provides food assistance to qualifying students, contributed to the university’s ranking. Virginia Tech continues to put resources into The Market, spearheaded by donations from prominent alums.

Other programs that aided in the high score included Virginia Cooperative Extension’s food security and food systems, the university’s Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition to improve opportunities for beginning farmers and ranchers to sustain viable operations, and the Small-Farm Incubator within the Catawba Sustainability Center that provides access to land for young and beginning farmers all contributed to the high ranking.

Virginia Tech also received a high mark in the SDG of Reduced Inequalities, coming in tied for No. 80. This SDG focuses eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, and investing more in health, education, social protection and decent jobs especially for young people, migrants and refugees and other vulnerable communities.

An emphasis on increasing the number of women in STEM-related careers and in building construction helped with the university’s scoring in this SDG. Also, Virginia Tech engineering faculty received a $1.2 million grant to study efforts to overcome isolation and scholarly devaluation among Black discipline-based education researchers – part of a three-year study with Ohio State and Vanderbilt universities.

In addition, Virginia Tech Advantage helped the university’s score, with its emphasis on providing broad educational experience to undergraduate students from Virginia who demonstrate a financial need. Virginia Tech students have used resources not only to offset tuition costs, but to secure internships that lead to future employment.

The Office for Inclusion and Diversity’s InclusiveVT program and Student Affairs’ Services for Students with Disabilities also aided in the high score in this SDG.

Other SDGs in which Virginia Tech ranked in the top 200 include Clean Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Development, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, and Life on Land. The university ranks in the top 75th percentile of participating world universities in the above-mentioned SDGs.

More information about Virginia Tech’s rankings can be found online.