USask leads Canada’s medical universities in research income growth, moving up three places to 11th spot in overall national ranking

Total USask-sponsored research income of $243.5 million is the highest in the university’s history. The ranking is based on Statistics Canada financial data for the 2018-2019 fiscal year—the latest available for national comparisons. 

“Our record research investment, combined with moving up three places in these rankings to 11th place overall, is a sign of our growing research momentum and a credit to the stellar work of our researchers, particularly in areas related to our signature areas of food and water security, synchrotron sciences, and One Health-related infectious disease research,” said USask Vice-President Research Karen Chad.  

“As the only university in the country with two Canada First Research Excellence Fund programs—one in food security and another in water security—and with two of Canada’s major science facilities—the Canadian Light Source and VIDO-InterVac—we are well placed to continue making important discoveries that benefit our region, the nation and beyond.”  

USask moved up four places to 11th spot in the “Research University of the Year” medical university category in which universities must achieve at least 50 per cent on five of six key measures of research performance that include total research income, research intensity per faculty member, research intensity per graduate student, total number of publications in leading journals, publication intensity, and publication impact. 

Due to the university’s record research revenue total, USask placed third in the medical category for research intensity per graduate student, a metric based on dividing the university’s total research revenue by the number of full-time and part-time graduate students. The figure for USask was $71,900 per student, compared with the medical tier average of $49,200 per student.  

Though USask was 13th in revenue from not-for-profit sources, USask ranked first in the medical tier for percentage growth in not-for-profit research income—a whopping 103-per-cent gain, compared with the tier average of minus one per cent. An increasing number of multi-year agreements with sponsors played a key role in the USask income growth. The three most significant contributions were from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, the Western Grains Research Foundation, and the Barley Council of Canada.   

And though USask was 14th for revenue from corporate sources, USask ranked second in the medical category for corporate research income growth—a 48-per-cent increase, compared to the tier average of just two per cent. This significant income growth gain from corporate-sourced grants and contracts was largely due to an increased number of multi-year agreements with sponsors, such as the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition, Ag-West Biotech Inc., and Syncrude Canada.    

“We are extremely grateful for the confidence in our high-quality research that is reflected by the support we receive from federal and provincial governments, industry and not-for-profit partners, and donors as we work together to advance knowledge in many areas and address global challenges,” said Chad. 

The survey is conducted by Research Infosource, a research, consulting and publishing firm that annually publishes influential ranking information on research universities, corporations, hospitals and colleges. More information is available here: https://researchinfosource.com/top-50-research-universities/2020 

For more information, contact: 

Victoria Dinh 
USask Media Relations 
306-966-5487 
victoria.dinh@usask.ca