The eighth edition of the global ranking THE Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026 included three universities in Turkmenistan that received high marks from independent international experts of the British organisation Times Higher Education (THE).

This year, the rating was presented for the first time under the new name THE Sustainability Impact Ratings, replacing the previously published THE Impact Rankings. The ranking has been running since 2019 and is an authoritative global performance table that assesses universities in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations and aimed at improving the level of social and economic development of countries around the world.

The Engineering and technology university of Turkmenistan named after Oguz han, the Turkmen state institute of architecture and construction, and International oil and gas university named after Yagshygeldi Kakayev ranked among the top universities in the Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026.

Turkmen universities annually and successfully participate in this prestigious ranking, confirming the high level of educational, scientific, innovative, and international activities.

According to the 2026 assessment, universities of Turkmenistan improved their positions, demonstrating active and effective participation in achieving nine UN SDGs. Among them are «Quality of education», «Affordable and clean energy», «Industry, innovation and infrastructure», «Health and well-being», «Clean water and sanitation», «Partnership to achieve the goals», and others.

Overall, the 2026 world rankings rank 1,646 universities from 116 countries based on their progress towards achieving the UN SDGs.

The Global Impact Ranking identifies and recognises universities that demonstrate excellence in contributing to global sustainable development. By achieving success across the SDGs, universities demonstrate their commitment to addressing the world's most pressing challenges, including economic sustainability, social inclusion, economic growth, and effective partnerships in achieving the SDGs.

The methodology of ranking combines scores across multiple SDGs to reflect the overall performance and impact of universities. Each university provides data on SDG 17 (Partnerships to achieve the goals) and at least three other SDGs. The final score of the university is determined by combining its score for SDG 17 with the three best scores from the remaining SDGs.

The achievements of Turkmen universities in the global rankings confirm their compliance with modern international requirements in the field of sustainable development, are recognition of the contribution of higher education institutions to the implementation of the UN SDGs, and evidence of the large-scale work in the country in this area.

The results obtained will contribute to the further expansion of the activities of universities of Turkmenistan in addressing sustainable development issues, strengthening their cooperation with international partners, and enhancing the competitiveness and prestige of higher education system of the country on the global stage.