Waterloo marks 11 straight years as top research university

The University of Waterloo has been designated Research University of the Year among Canadian comprehensive universities by Research Infosource Inc. for the eleventh consecutive year.

The announcement follows recognition as the most innovative university in Canada for the 27th year in a row by Maclean’s magazine in its recent 2019 reputational survey. Waterloo was also named second in Canada for best overall and leaders of tomorrow.

The announcement by Research Infosource Inc. is part of Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities and is based on a balanced set of input, output, and impact measures that distinguishes exceptional achievement in research income and publishing research in leading scientific journals.

“We are delighted that Research Infosource has once again recognized Waterloo’s research excellence,” says Charmaine Dean, Vice-President, University Research. “Our distinctive approach and focus on impactful research are what make Waterloo a global hub for discovery and innovation.”

Waterloo ranked 12^th among Canada’s top 50 research universities for sponsored research income with more than $189 million. Among comprehensive universities, Waterloo placed first for research income, first for not-for-profit research income, and second for corporate research income over the past five years with more than $78 million.

On a scorecard of Research Universities of the Year (comprehensive), Research Infosource ranked Waterloo first for total sponsored research income, total number of publications, and publication intensity.

Waterloo’s excellence in research is recognized by:

• Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking at 163^rd in the world. The QS World University Subject Rankings placed Waterloo 31^st in the world for computer science and 19^th for hospitality and leisure management studies. Waterloo also ranked in the top 70 in the world for engineering and technology, and top 100 in the world for environmental studies.
• US News & World Report Best Global Universities 2018 ranked Waterloo #1 in Canada for engineering #2 in Canada for computer science.

The University’s excellence in research is marked by a number of significant achievements in 2018. Some of the highlights include:

• 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Donna Strickland, professor, physics and astronomy, for her groundbreaking research in laser physics,
• Launch of the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute and Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute to transform the future across many areas including communications, transportation, and healthcare,
• First virtual reality optometry lab in Canada will help future optometrists diagnose vision problems and eye diseases more quickly and accurately,
• Synergy Award for Innovation awarded to Slim Boumaiza, professor, electrical and computer engineering, for his research on wireless communication networks and collaboration to build energy-efficient radio-communications systems for 4G infrastructure,
• First working battery with close to 100 per cent coulombic efficiency by team of chemists, led by Linda Nazar, professor, chemistry, and Canada Research Chair in Solid State Energy Materials),
• Global awards and honours for Geoff Fong, professor, psychology, and founder and chief principal investigator for the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC), an initiative that’s helped save more than 22 million lives in the last decade,
• New mathematical model formulated by Chris Bauch and Joe Pharaon, professors, applied mathematics, to study and predict the influence of social behavior on disease outbreaks. Current models used to predict the emergence of and evolution of pathogens within host populations don’t include social behavior.
• Establishment of Canada’s first Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Led by Waterloo and spearheaded by the Faculty of Environment, the network is tasked with bringing together Canadian post-secondary institutions, civil society members, and others to mobilize the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.