In the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026 list published on Tuesday, QS ranked 2,001 institutions of higher education from 108 countries based on metrics in three categories. The assessment examined the performance of 620 European universities, including 14 in Hungary, based on factors such as their environmental impact, social impact and their governance.
Of the three criteria examined, UD achieved the best results in the area of university governance, ranking 226th. Compared to last year's figures, our university moved up significantly in the social impact category, advancing more than 40 places. The institution also improved its results in the areas of environmental research, health and well-being, knowledge exchange, and employability and opportunities.
According to Chancellor Zoltán Bács, our institution's excellent ranking is primarily due to systematic improvements.
- One important task in the mission of the University of Debrecen is to create a livable and sustainable environment for its students and faculty in addition to its outstanding educational, research, and innovation activities. For a number of years, we have been developing the university's residential spaces, community venues as well as sports and cultural opportunities based on comprehensive concepts, while we continue to invest a lot of energy in creating a student and teacher-friendly environment. Achieving such a favorable position in the rankings is good feedback for us, indicating that we are on the right track- said Chancellor Zoltán Bács to hirek.unideb.hu.
QS evaluated institutions based on more than fifty segments within each individual category. Among other aspects, they examined the existence of a research center dedicated to sustainable development, checked if the institution records its annual energy consumption, if it treats minimizing its impact on climate change as a priority in its daily operations, and whether it has research collaborations with companies on the Forbes 2000 list or not. The ranking also took into account the institutions’ ethical culture, inspecting if it has a climate protection strategy, and whether it has a plan to ensure gender equality or not.
ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) ranks universities in 55 subjects across five fields of study: natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences. The GRAS list includes a total of 1,900 institutions from 96 countries, out of the more than 5,000 universities worldwide that have provided data.
In the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2025, the University of Debrecen achieved its best result in the field of ecology, ranking 301-400, which turned out to indicate the best performance among Hungarian universities. In mathematics, it also ranked 301-400, while in agricultural sciences and pharmaceutical sciences, it ranked 401-500.
The list ranks universities based on a set of criteria that represent objective scientific indicators such as World-Class Faculty, World-Class Output, High-Quality Research, Research Impact, and International Collaboration.
Find further details about the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026 list and ShanghaiRanking Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2025 list by clicking on these hyperlinks.
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