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Having firmly established itself as a force in research areas previously the exclusive preserve of residential universities, the University of South Africa (UNISA) continues to stake its claim among the world’s best.
Recent months have seen UNISA consolidate and improve its world position, as confirmed by leading international rankings. The most recent University Impact Rankings for 2025, released by Times Higher Education, show that UNISA’s performance on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) rose to 66.3% compared to 65.3% in 2024. On the three SDGs in which it provided evidence (Decent Work and Economic Growth, Quality Education, and Gender Equality), UNISA scored in the top quartile worldwide. It was also ranked seventh amongst the thirteen South African universities included in the rankings.
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Furthermore, in the Times Higher Education rankings, UNISA has risen from 13.8 to 17.8 for its research environment and from 48.1 to 51.0 for its research quality, and moved from eighth to sixth place between 2022 and 2023 in terms of its publication output units. Released in August, the 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) ranks UNISA among the top eight universities in the country and the world’s top 1,000 universities. UNISA’s continued good performance on the global stage is very much an indicator of the university’s focus on ten catalytic niche areas that reaffirm the university’s excellence in the areas of teaching and learning, research and innovation, and engaged scholarship, as well as the global impact of the institution.
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Covering a broad spectrum, the niches range from the high-technology area of Space Studies and the Square Kilometre Array to the African-born and bred Feminist, Womanist, and Bosadi Theorisations. The catalytic niche areas reaffirm the university’s excellence in the areas of teaching and learning, research and innovation, and engaged scholarship, as well as the institution’s global impact. Speaking recently at the UNISA Catalytic Niche Area Research Symposium, Professor Puleng LenkaBula, UNISA Principal and Vice-Chancellor, lauded leaders in the research portfolio for institutionalizing research that supports catalytic niches.
“These areas,” she said, “contribute to rethinking and reclaiming Africa’s futures. UNISA’s roots are embedded in African knowledge, social justice, and academic excellence, enabling us to remain steady, even as we navigate the shifting global dynamics.”
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