Queen’s remains in the U15, but recent ranking place the university 16th in Canada.
In December, Canadian platform Research Infosource released its ranking of universities based on research income and intensity data from the 2021-22 academic year. Queen’s research income fell 19.7 per cent from 2020-21 by a total of $182,607.
Vice-Principal (Research) Nancy Ross explained the drop was due to Université de Sherbrooke’s sudden rise to tenth place, displacing Queen’s from the top 15. The change doesn’t impact Queen’s hip to the Canadian U15, a coalition of leading research universities across Canada.
While Ross and her team have access to more recent data, the information is embargoed until December 2024.
“This is historical data and we do know where we are at for next year, which is up above $200 million again. The bottom third of U15 we’ve been at forever, but that’s unlikely to be 16 again,” Ross said.
As the smallest U15 university, Queen’s has historically been in the bottom third of the U15. The most recent rankings show Queen’s is eleventh in research intensity with $213.10 per faculty member, and fifteenth in graduate student research with $27.10 in funding per graduate student, according to Research Infosource.
Queen’s ranking doesn’t mean it doesn’t offer experts opportunities for worldwide recognition, Ross claimed. In 2023, Queen’s researchers won prestigious awards, including Professor John Smol being awarded the Vega Medal, Assistant Professor Cao Thang Dinh winning the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year in Engineering and Technology, and Professor Praveen Jain receiving the Killam Prize.
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“There’s three [awards] here that should just be jaw drop around, that says a research career at the highest international level is fully achievable at this university,” Ross said.
For Ross, research is about people, because it’s people who have an impact. It’s a facet of the job Ross considers to be undermeasured and underreported.
“Research grants are people,” Ross said. “When you give research funding to a university it’s for people, it’s often students’ first job, it’s a technician salary. The line items for research are predominantly people.”
There are two tier-one institutes at Queen’s, the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute and the Carbon to Metal Coating Institute, both of which contribute significantly on the national and international stages, Ross explained. Queen’s hold two grants from the Canadian Major Science Initiatives Fund for SnoLab and the Canadian Cancer Trials Group.
“We work to create all kinds of pathways for those types of careers,” Ross said. “We know we can create the conditions for that kind of success,” Ross added.
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This year, Ross and her team will establish Queen’s strategic research framework for the next five years. Ross hopes to build on areas of research which are foreward thinking, enhancing Queen’s existing strengths in artificial intelligence and pushing a low carbon future.
“From the strategy point of view, we are shoring up our global excellence,” Ross added.
Consultations for Queen’s next strategic research plan will begin in the spring. Internally, the plan helps the University prioritize resources and track progress. Externally, Ross said the plan tells the world what Queen’s priorities and strengths are and helps get funding for them.
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Shoring up excellence means making interdisciplinary connections between researchers, and building coalitions internally, so Queen’s is primed for funding opportunities when they arise. With Canada expected to the Horizon Europe research programme this year, Canadian researchers will have access to a €53.5 billion budget focused on global challenges. Queen’s Strategic Initiatives Unit is growing and charged with preparing researchers for these exact opportunities.
Going global doesn’t mean Ross is losing focus at home. She hopes to increase Queen’s Tri-Council Funding and strengthen partnerships within the local community. It’s good for everybody, Ross said, with the University providing guidance to the community and graduate students finding jobs in the local economy.
“I think what’s missing here [are] interconnections between the institutions and between the CEOs that are local, and the non-profits, to make sure the ecosystem is a little bit richer for start-ups,” Ross said.
With construction beginning in May for the new Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Ross sees “tremendous” potential for art history and art conservation research. Ross hopes to research elements of the project, which will include Indigenous spaces.
“I think we all want to create the conditions for research excellence at Queen’s and create conditions for trajectories of nationally and globally significant research programs. That’s a priority,” Ross said.
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