This lens assesses the impact of the research being done in area aligned to specific UN SDG’s, giving an indication of the relative research environment and attention being given to these crucial topics. It combines research data on the relevant SDG's. It also brings in national-level data on research spend as a proportion of GDP. The data is aggregated to form a final score.
Weights of metrics for Environmental Research:
| Code | Metric | Metric Weight |
| ER1 | Research Impact on Environment-aligned SDGs | 9% |
| ER2 | National Statistics for Research | 1% |
| ER3 | Research Center with Sustainability Focus | 2% |
| ER4 | Policy Citations (Environmental) | 1% |
ER1 Research Impact on SDGs for Environmental Research
| Sub metric | Description | Scoring |
| ER1.1 |
We analyse research output produced by institutions, classified by Elsevier as research in: SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) |
A score from 0 to 100 per SDG is produced using this methodology, and then averaged into an overall score, subject to at least three of the six mentioned SDG scores being non-zero. |
ER2 Environmental Research National Statistics
| Sub metric | Description | Scoring |
| ER2.1 | Global spending on R&D | Normalised then scaled between 1-100 |
ER3 Research Center focused on Environmental Sustainability
Institutions must provide a public link to their research center with a specific focus on environmental sustainability. There are additional points awarded for data points 2 and 3.
| Sub metric | Information Sought | Scoring |
| ER3.1 | Research Center with an Environmental Sustainability Focus | This is a threshold to score. The following then sum to 100. |
| ER3.2 | The Research Centre has dedicated FTE staff | 0 or 50 |
| ER3.3 |
This Research Centre contributes (through curriculum, teaching and supervision) to the teaching of undergraduate programmes and/or postgraduate programmes. |
0 or 50 |
ER4 Policy Citations (Environmental)
| Sub metric | Description | Scoring |
| ER4.1 | Aggregation of the Policy Citation scores per corresponding SDGs: SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land). | Policy Citation scores per SDG are produced using this methodology and then averaged. |
