The University of Lethbridge is forging ahead as one of the fastest growing universities in the country in terms of research income.
Research Infosource ranked the U of L second nationally in terms of research income growth over the decade 1999-2009 for undergraduate universities. The institution's overall growth rate rose from $3.295 million to $15.956 million over the 10-year period.
"This is the highest gain of any Alberta school and any western Canadian school – and we are still growing," says U of L Vice-President, Research, Dr. Dan Weeks.
"These figures do not reflect the additional people we have attracted, the income from this past year or the many new programs that we have launched."
As assessed by Research Infosource, the list ranks universities by their research income and research intensity (growth in income, full-time faculty and overall research intensity). RE$EARCH Infosource is a provider of research intelligence for business and higher education, and uses Statistics Canada data and other sources to create their rankings list.
Based on 2009 fiscal year information, the
U of L's almost $16 million in research funding places it in the middle third of the country's universities and well ahead of similar-sized institutions.
"Our growth in funding over the past decade tells us that the U of L's program is remarkable when you consider the intense national competition for scarce research dollars," says Weeks.
"This success over the past decade reflects very hard work from a lot of people – our outstanding faculty, students and staff. By building on that success and moving forward in new directions,
I am confident our leadership in new areas will translate into even more people and resources coming our way. The impact is significant, not only for our students, but for the University and the southern Alberta community."
Weeks adds that a very real measure of how well the U of L is doing in terms of the rankings is to look at the level of research intensity.
"We rank fifth overall in the percentage of research intensity growth over the decade 1999-2009 for undergraduate universities," says Weeks.
"Research intensity growth measures growth in income, full-time faculty and overall research intensity. We've grown from 195 faculty to 339 faculty with research income per faculty member increasing from $16,900 to $47,100, or 178.6 per cent."
