University Research Income Expands at Slowest Pace Since 2001

University of Toronto Breaks $1 Billion Barrier

TORONTO, Oct. 17, 2013 /CNW/ - Total research income at the 50 leading universities expanded by only 1.1% in Fiscal 2012, the slowest growth since 2001, according to this year's annual ranking of Canada's Top 50 Research Universities, released today by Research Infosource Inc., Canada's Source of R&D Intelligence. The national result was depressed by sharp cutbacks in provincial research funding in Alberta.

Canada's leading research university, University of Toronto, became the first institution to post over $1 billion of research income ($1.038 billion), followed by University of British Columbia ($585.2 million) and Université de Montréal ($526.2 million).

Infosource also designated three institutions as Research Universities of the Year 2013 in their respective categories:  University of Toronto (Medical/Doctoral), University of Waterloo (Comprehensive) and Université du Québec à Rimouski (Undergraduate).

"It was only two years ago that university research income expanded at an annual 3.6% pace, a rate of increase that seems idyllic compared with this year's pace of 1.1%", said Ron Freedman, CEO of Research Infosource.  "Cutbacks in provincial government support weighed heavily on this year's results in Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Corporate funding has been reined in by weak global business conditions and the retreat of the pharmaceutical sector from research funding.  Federal government support has been steady, but a far cry from the expansionary trend of the past decade.  Governments typically account for over two-thirds of university research income, so future prospects are directly tied to the fortunes of the public sector."

For complete information: http://www.researchinfosource.com/top50_univ.php

Note:
Data obtained through Statistics Canada and the Research Infosource Canadian University R&D database.

About Research Infosource Inc.
Research Infosource Inc., a division of The Impact Group, is Canada's source of R&D intelligence.  Drawing from proprietary databases, Research Infosource Inc. publishes Canada's Innovation Leaders, which includes Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders List, Canada's Top 50 Research Universities List and Canada's Top 40 Research Hospitals List and Canada's Top 50 Research Colleges List.  As well, Research Infosource publishes specialized reports and The Innovation Atlas of Canada™ - a web-based research and innovation mapping and data information product.

SOURCE: Research Infosource Inc.

For additional information or for an interview, please contact:

Ron Freedman
CEO, Research Infosource
Telephone: [phone], ext. 31, Cell: 416-879-9000
Email: [email protected]