By IANS,
Toronto : The University of Waterloo, based in the city of Blackberry near here, has been rated as the top research institution in Canada.
In the annual “Canada Top 50 Research Universities,” Waterloo edged out many top universities in a survey which tracks sponsored research at these institutions. The university is quite popular with Indian students. It has some prominent Indians on its faculties also.
In a release before the publication of the survey at the weekend, the university said its total research ranked in the “elite $100 million club” in 2007.
It also reported $121.6 million in total research income from government and non-government sources last year.
“This is great news for Waterloo,” the release quoted George Dixon, university vice-president research, as saying.
“The credit goes to our outstanding researchers, our faculty and graduate students, who continue to shine on the national and international stage,” said Dixon.
“We believe Waterloo has a very innovative approach, combined with strengths in many critical areas, such as water, energy and auto research,” he said.
According to Dixon, Waterloo has the ability “to transfer many of its pure research findings into practical applications for the benefit of society.
“It stands alone in its inventor-owned intellectual property policy that encourages the practical application of research by supporting technology transfer and company incubation.”
Waterloo notched the top slot by scoring 91.1 in the comprehensive category based on measuring “financial input, research publication output and impact indicators.”
The University of Guelph near Toronto came in second place with 88.76 points, and the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island third with 74 points.
The “comprehensive” category covered all universities with undergraduate and graduate programmes, but no medical school. In the medical research category, the University of Toronto was placed first.