In an announcement made Wednesday, Canada’s leading research ranking organization, RE$EARCH Infosource, scored McGill second among an A-list of three in the Medical/Doctoral Research University of the Year (RUY) tier. McGill was ranked third on RE$EARCH Infosource’s list of Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities in 2022, a position the University has maintained for four years. These distinctions reflect, in part, McGill’s strength in attracting research funding and the strong publishing record of the school’s professors. Fellow top universities in medical/doctoral research were the University of Toronto (#1) and McMaster University (#3).
“I am extraordinarily proud of McGill’s increased sponsored research performance and of the impact that our community makes from the earliest stages of researchers’ careers through to the development of innovative projects with academic and industry partners, governments, and our communities at large,” said Martha Crago, Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation.
RE$EARCH Infosource has produced the RUY ranking since 2003 with an evolving methodology. The ranking system for 2022 was unchanged from the preceding year. Rank is determined based on several performance indicators, such as the amount of sponsored research income and total number of publications. Universities are group in tiers: Medical/Doctoral, Comprehensive and Undergraduate.
Among Canada’s Top 50 Universities by tier, McGill ranked exceptionally well in several impact indicators. The University scored third in sponsored research income based on Statistics Canada financial data from 2020-21, with a 33.4 per cent increase from 2017 to 2021. In comparison, top-ranked University of Toronto demonstrated a 27.4 per cent increase over the same period. McGill saw an increase of almost 10 per cent in not-for-profit research income and a 25.6 per cent increase was recorded in research intensity per faculty—which amounts to an average of $372,800 for research per faculty member. “More than the sum of performance indicators, McGill’s top-ranked position is compelling proof of our commitment to research excellence and of our successful and innovative collaborations,” added Crago.
Spotlight on success securing federal funding
The main sources of Canadian federal research funding are from three research granting agencies, which include the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)—and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). This year, RE$EARCH Infosource spotlighted granting council research income performance (FY2017-FY2021) among its ranked universities. McGill topped the category of CIHR income (as a per cent of Total University Research Income (at 18.4 per cent)) and ranked second in total CIHR Research Income. It scored highly in research funding granted by the other agencies, scoring third in grants from the CFI.
“Public health adversity seems to have provided the impetus for increased Federal Government funding of university research in Fiscal 2021,” said Ron Freedman, CEO of Research Infosource. “The fact that Federal granting sources were so quickly able to ramp up their research funding speaks well of their flexibility and efficiency.” Among many projects funded by the CFI in 2021, McGill received $7,924,202 for SecureData4Health led by McGill’s Guillaume Bourque of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, in support of genomics and health data projects.
Read the RE$EARCH Infosource press release.
In this latest ranking, McGill plays second-fiddle once again to the University of Toronto. When will second-fiddling stop, or will it ever?
I love the McGill bashers who harp on this. Like being 2nd in this ranking is such a horror. UofT is a world-class university. No shame finishing 2nd behind UofT. Classic all-or-nothing attitude.
In the THE World University rankings this year, Oxford topped the list again, ahead of institutions like Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford, MIT, etc. But do people whine about Harvard being “second-fiddle”?
Do you only applaud the gold medalists at the Olympics?
When was the last time you ranked 2nd in Canada in anything, Ms. Besse?
I am NOT bashing McGill, because I am part of it. It’s all about recruiting the best students in various fields from the globe, and that’s why it is so important that McGill becomes again the unquestioned Nr. 1 in Canada, and in my own field I am doing everything I can to help make it happen – and it must happen!
I am not directing my comment to people like you. I respect your position and your efforts. And I agree that we should always strive to improve ourselves and our institutions. But, I took exception to the dismissive tone of the first comment.
It would be funny and also stupid to compare a McGill to Harvard in these international rankings. In America, Harvard ranks #1 or top 5 among hundreds of research universities. In Canada, McGill is second-fiddle or even third-fiddle to only 14 research universities there. I think the lesson is clear and undeniable. Second- or third-fiddling … where does McGill go from here?