Overall, the University of Helsinki placed 22nd in the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026 ranking, which measures institutions’ ability to tackle environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges. In other words, the focus is on the universities’ environmental and social impact as well as their administrative practices.
Similarly to last year, the University of Helsinki was ranked first in the world for the health and wellbeing indicator, which assesses the output and social impact of institutions’ health-related research as well as the academic community’s access to healthcare and wellbeing services. The University also placed among the top universities in the categories for good governance (3rd) and research aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (4th).
The ranking included 2002 universities worldwide. Last year they numbered 1,751, of which the University of Helsinki placed 18th.
In Finland the University of Helsinki ranks first and in Europe 11th. The ranking included 12 Finnish and 618 European universities.
The ranking is based on nine indicators, eight of which place the University of Helsinki among the top 100.