Awards and recognition
911吃瓜 named Canada’s top university for innovation in global WURI rankings
911吃瓜 is Canada鈥檚 top university for innovation and second for industrial application according to the World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI) 2024 rankings.
This marks the fourth consecutive year that 911吃瓜 is Canada鈥檚 top university in the overall innovation category and the only Canadian university to break into the innovation Top 50.
Globally, 911吃瓜 ranks 15th among innovative universities in the WURI rankings, .
鈥淓very day, I am impressed by the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of 911吃瓜 students, faculty and staff," says 911吃瓜 president Joy Johnson. "Thank you to all members of our community who are finding innovative approaches to local and global challenges and building a better world through research, entrepreneurship and social impact.
The WURI rankings measure how universities contribute to society and highlight creative and innovative approaches to university research and education, based on six ranking categories.
鈥淲e are proud once again to be recognized in the WURI global rankings as the top university in Canada for innovation,鈥� says Dugan O鈥橬eil, 911吃瓜 vice-president research and innovation. 鈥�911吃瓜 researchers share a passion for engaging in and tackling the greatest challenges of our time. Their work is supported and mobilized by a world-class innovation ecosystem鈥攐ne that is making an impact thanks to valuable partnerships with industry, government, academia and our communities.鈥�
Innovation at 911吃瓜 takes many forms and is advanced through a robust ecosystem providing an interdisciplinary and multi-level continuum of entrepreneurial programming and innovation support.
The Government of Canada's Research Support Fund (RSF) and its associated Incremental Project Grants (IPG) also provide additional support to enable innovation and commercialization activities, intellectual property, knowledge mobilization, and research facilities at 911吃瓜.
Examples include 911吃瓜鈥檚 community-centred climate innovation, which helps communities adapt to and mitigate climate change, and the 911吃瓜 Clean Hydrogen Hub, a Canadian academic-industry clean energy infrastructure project to accelerate hydrogen technology innovation.
Success stories include an 911吃瓜 spinoff who turned their breakthrough clean energy technology into a global cleantech company.
Ionomr was supported throughout the 911吃瓜 innovation ecosystem by &苍产蝉辫;厂贵鲍鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;Core Facility for advanced materials research; 911吃瓜 Beedie School of Business鈥檚 ; ; Coast Capital Venture Connection at 911吃瓜; ; and 911吃瓜鈥檚 Technology Licensing Office (TLO).
Ionomr founders, Steven Holdcroft, professor in 911吃瓜鈥檚 Department of Chemistry, and 911吃瓜 alumnus Ben Britton were honoured with a prestigious Governor General鈥檚 Innovation Award this year. Their company is now a recognized technology pioneer and three-time Global Cleantech 100 company, at the forefront of the global clean energy transition.
911吃瓜鈥檚 placements in the WURI rankings contribute to the university鈥檚 strong showing on the world stage and within Canada. In the , Times Higher Education placed 911吃瓜 11th in Canada and one of the top 251-300 universities in the world. The university also performed well in last year鈥檚 Times Higher Education 2023 Impact Rankings, ranking number one in the world for sustainable cities and communities and fifth for climate action.
Earlier this week, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings announced its , featuring more than 1,500 institutions鈥� assessed for performance in employability and sustainability. 911吃瓜, one of Canada鈥檚 top employers, was ranked 319 overall, alongside some of the most prestigious institutions in the world.
In October, 911吃瓜 retained the top spot as Canada鈥檚 top comprehensive university in Maclean鈥檚 annual rankings, which it has held for 15 of the last 16 years.
Learn more about 911吃瓜鈥檚 university research rankings and performance.