Growth in university research funding shrinks to new low; U of T breaks $1 billion

More than half report declines

It was a fickle year for university research funding in 2012 as institutions and provinces that performed well in 2011 saw their fortunes reversed. A constrained funding environment kept the overall increase for Canada's Top 50 research universities at 1.1% — well below inflation and just half of 2011's 2.2% increase, which at the time was the lowest increase in a decade.

More than half (28) of research universities posted declines in 2012 while 22 celebrated gains, with the largest registered by Memorial Univ (+52.6%) Univ of Sherbrooke (+27.3%), St Francis Xavier Univ (23.6%) and the Univ of Toronto (+13.4%).

The U of T's gain is particularly powerful as it comes on top of a massive research base. It also helped Canada's perennial #1-ranked research university break through the $1-billion barrier — the first time in Canadian history. U of T was also tops in research intensity (research income per full-time faculty) at $422.3, easily eclipsing #2 ranked Univ of British Columbia ($246.5) and #3 ranked Univ of Montreal ($280.0).

Memorial Univ also impressed with the highest increase of any institution (52.6%), pushing into the elite group of universities with more than $100 million in sponsored research income.

At the other end of the scale, two western-based powerhouse suffered significant declines in research funding. The Univ of Alberta dropped from #3 to #5 between 2011 and 2012, shedding $83.7 million for a 15.6% decline to $452.4 million. The Univ of Saskatchewan saw its research funding decline 18% to $166.7 million dropping two places in the ranking to #13. Those performances dragged down their respective provincial totals, which both experienced negative growth for 2012.

Quebec universities — collectively the strongest institutions in 2011 — were a mixed bag in 2012. McGill Univ dropped one place to #5 as its research funding declined 7.5% to $483.5 million, in contrast to a strong performance by the Univ of Sherbrooke, which gained 27.3% to $185.2 million, rising five places in the ranking to #11. Laval Univ — ranked #7 — declined 2.2%. The performance of Quebec universities was enough to maintain the province's share of the total at 27%. Ontario's strong performance boosted the province's share of the total from 38% to 40%.

Canada's 16 universities with medical schools accounted for 81% of total research income, followed by 12 comprehensive institutions (13%) and 22 undergraduate institutions (5%). The latter fell 1% due to a collective 6.9% decline in research income.

The top-ranked medical/doctoral university was the Univ of Toronto. The top comprehensive institution was the Univ of Waterloo and the top undergraduate university was the Univ of Quebec at Rimouski.

The Research Infosource ranking does not include a breakdown for sources of funding. (www.researchinfosource.com)

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