Oshawa Ontario Tech University named one of the world’s top 200 small universities

Only weeks after being named one of Canada’s Research Universities of the Year for 2021 in the small school category, Ontario Tech added another feather in its cap by making the top 200 list of the world’s best young universities.

The latest honour was bestowed last month by Times Higher Education, a British magazine considered by many experts to be the most prestigious international university ranking organization.

The magazine ranked all international research institutions that are under 50 years old (founded in 1971 or later). Ontario Tech, which obtained its charter in 2002 and only accepted its first cohort of students in the fall of 2003, is among the youngest universities on the entire list.

The survey ranks universities in a wide range of performance criteria, including teaching, research, academic citations and international outlook. Ontario Tech (at #187 this year, right behind Regina University at #186) boasts close research partnerships or relationships with some of the other universities in the ranking, such as Australia’s University of Technology Sydney (No. 8).

A huge part of the university’s success imprint comes through the trajectory of new research grants and awards, and industry funding. In 2020-2021, Ontario Tech attracted more than $23.5 million in research grants and contracts, an increase of more than 40 per cent over the previous year.

The magazine used Scopus as its academic citation database – the same one that Research Infosource used for its ranking of Ontario Tech in the Research University of the Year compilation for 2021.

“Being ranked among the world’s 200 top young research universities offers further compelling evidence of the promise of Ontario Tech’s research story and sets the foundation for growing research intensity in the decades ahead,” said Dr. Les Jacobs, Vice-President, Research and Innovation at Ontario Tech. “It confirms that Ontario Tech is not only a vital research hub anchoring the eastern Greater Toronto Area, but also has a strong international presence. We have assembled an incredible team of leading professors from around the globe. Their commitment to research excellence and discovery is unquestionably at the centre of our university’s success.”