UBB - on the first position in the country, in the ranking of the sustainability of universities

Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (UBB) holds the first position in the country out of 8 included universities, the 159th position in Europe, and the 335th position globally in the sustainability university ranking conducted by the British company QS.

The universities included in the QS sustainability ranking were analyzed based on three criteria: (1) environmental impact (e.g., through academic programs, scientific research, and the implementation of sustainability-related mechanisms and policies); (2) societal impact (e.g., graduate employability, societal reputation, industry partnerships, equality policies, academic contribution to health and well-being through education and research, social impact of quality and research-based education, and knowledge exchange); and (3) governance (e.g., modern and efficient decision-making mechanisms, ethics, financial transparency, and student involvement).

UBB Rector, Prof. Dr. Daniel David, stated: "In today's world, the academic results of universities - graduates through quality education, knowledge generation through scientific research, and innovative relationships with the socio-economic environment - and self-governance are increasingly reported in relation to sustainable development indicators. This indicates that a university is relevant both academically and for the world in which it operates. This year, UBB has achieved the best position in the country in terms of academic performance (bringing together achievements in various relevant academic rankings), and I am pleased that, as seen in this new ranking, this academic performance is significant for the current world and the future we aim to build. And the performance is not just good; it is very good: first in the country, among the top 33% in Europe, and among the top 25% globally, which is consistent with hosting the UNESCO Chair in Climate Change and Sustainable Development at UBB. I am also pleased to see that in specific indicators, especially in educational and research areas at the interface with sustainability, including employability and industry partnership, we are leading, as well as through the new UBBMed program in the "health & wellbeing' area."

According to the educational institution, throughout 2023, considering all rankings included in the university/national metarankings published to date, UBB has the best performance in Romania: (1) Position 801-850 in the global British QS ranking - the first in Romania; in this ranking for Europe, it is also the first in the country, occupying the 15th position in Eastern Europe and the 260th position in Europe; (2) Position 923 (top 4.5%) in the CWUR/Centre for World University Ranking - the first in Romania; (3) Position 1157 (Quartile 1) in the Scimago university ranking - the first in Romania; (4) Position 1058 in the Leiden ranking - the first in Romania; (5) Position 1001-1200 in the Times Higher Education ranking (alongside three other universities in the country and after two more universities in the country). No Romanian university was included in the Shanghai/ARWU Chinese ranking and the Taiwanese NTU ranking (both rankings are mainly based on article publications in the field of science, indexed in Web of Science).

UBB Rector added: "As I have mentioned in other contexts, fluctuations in UBB's position in various rankings - such as presence, absence, different positions/ranks - are mainly determined by different nuances in the classification criteria but are corrected through metarankings. UBB has the best performance in this regard throughout its history. Thus, in the "University Metaranking' (first published in 2016 for 2016 by the Ministry of Education and later, with the same methodology, by other academic organizations), which brings together 9 major international university rankings, UBB has consistently held the first position in the country and has constantly improved its performance from 2016 to 2022. In the "National Metaranking' (first published in 2022 for 2021 by the Ministry of Education), which brings together 9 major international university rankings, UBB has consistently held the first position in the country and has increased its performance from 2021/2022 to 2022/2023."

Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (UBB) has the most complex academic profile in the country (by the number of programs and the multicultural nature with three official academic languages: Romanian, Hungarian, and German), with the oldest academic tradition in Romania (started 442 years ago - 1581), also representing the largest academic community at the national level (with over 50,000 people, from 15 localities and 11 counties).