Cambrian College improved its placement by three spots in the top 50 research rankings put out by Re$earch Infosource, with Sudbury’s two colleges and its university all continuing to make the cut.
Universities and colleges are ranked on factors such as sponsored research income and research intensity.
Cambrian College improved its rankings from 41st last year to 38th this year. Its sponsored research income increased to $3.3 million in 2022-2023 from about $2.5 million the year before.
The college put out a press release on its Re$earch Infosource rankings.
Cambrian said this is the 13th year in a row it’s made the top 50 list.
Among medium-sized colleges, Cambrian was a top 10 finisher nationally in several categories, including third for use of paid student researchers, fourth in growth of overall research income as well as industry research income, and eighth in research income per researcher (intensity), said the press release.
“We are consistently holding our own with some of the top schools across all Canada when it comes to applied research and development,” said Mike Commito, director of Cambrian R&D, in the press release.
“We’re following industry trends, cultivating partnerships and generating revenue that comes from innovation, creativity and hard work. Cambrian R&D is recognized by industry and government as a go-to place for solutions to real-time challenges, particularly in mining and heavy industry.”
Laurentian University ranked 30th with Re$earch Infosource last year, and dropped to 34th place this year, with sponsored research income of $31.4 million in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, down from $39.7 million the year before.
Last year, Laurentian was the top university on the list classified as undergraduate for research income, but has dropped to third this year.
Sudbury.com has reached out to Laurentian for their comment on the rankings. A spokesperson said LU would be putting out a statement on its Re$earch Infosource performance this week.
In 2023, some Laurentian faculty had wondered if LU’s research income ranking would drop this year, given some of the changes made during the university’s 2021-2022 insolvency, and because research is a lagging indicator.
Collège Boréal ranked in last place, or 50th, as it also did last year. The year before, Boréal made the top 50 list for the first time ever, ranking 45th. Boréal had a sponsored research income of $1.7 million in 2022-2023 as opposed to $1.6 million the year before.
“Collège Boréal is proud to be ranked among the top 50 research colleges in Canada for the third consecutive year,” said Daniel Giroux, the college’s president, in an emailed statement.
“This achievement is part of an effort to prioritize the development of projects that meet the needs of industrial and community partners while providing experiential learning opportunities for our students.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.