Dalhousie University made it into the Times Higher Education's World University Rankings Top 200 list for the first time.
Dalhousie University made it into the Times Higher Education's World University Rankings Top 200 list for the first time.
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Times Higher Education World University Rankings methodology
The University of Toronto has won major kudos by being named in the top 20 of world universities in what is arguably the most influential global university rankings.
Nine Canadian universities have won a place in Times Higher Education's World University Rankings, a league table of the top 200 universities in the world. Though the United States and Britain dominated the list, Canada more than held its own, ranking as the fifth-best performing country.
The year's rankings will carry more force than ever, being the result of a major overhaul by Times Higher Education (THE), who partnered with Thomson Reuters to greatly expand the range of data inputs in an effort to produce the most accurate global yardstick of university excellence.
U of T placed 17th overall, followed closely by University of British Columbia at 30th and McGill University at 35th. Other Canadian universities to rank were McMaster (93rd), Alberta (127nd), Victoria (130th), Université de Montréal (138th), Dalhousie (193rd) and Simon Fraser (199th).
The new methodology sees schools scored on a broad range of indicators, including the number of papers published, the number of PhDs awarded and money that goes into research. One indicator gauges "knowledge transfer" — the amount of research that ultimately gets used for practical purposes — by measuring the amount of research dollars invested by industry in universities. The numbers are scaled to the size of the school to prevent larger schools gaining an unfair advantage.
This year, rankings scaled back the importance of reputation to the overall results and also attempted to fix a statistical quirk that had been giving an advantage to universities with more science research.
The new methodology has not been kind to all Canadian universities. In last year's version (under the old system) McGill was the top Canadian university, ranked ahead of U of T. More dramatically, this year's version sees research heavyweights Waterloo, Calgary, Western Ontario and Queen's fall out of the top 200 entirely. By contrast, one relative underdog - the University of Victoria - was celebrating last night after being promoted into the global elite for the first time.
"We're a mid-sized university and anything that looks at quality rather than simply quantity is something that plays to us," said University of Victoria president David Turpin. "It's great that Times Higher Education has recognized what we've been trying to do."
University of Toronto president David Naylor said: "Some of us who are measurement mavens may grumble, but the public appetite for rankings seems endless. This year, the Times group consulted widely to pinpoint weaknesses in other ranking systems and in their previous approach. They brought in a new partner with recognized expertise in data gathering and analysis. And they also sought peer opinions on the education and learning environment at scores of universities. These are welcome developments, and we'll be looking carefully at the results."
McGill, meanwhile, played down the significance of its placing below the larger school down the 401 Highway, pointing out that, because the methodology is different, it's hard to compare this year's rankings with last year's.
"The great thing for this country is that we have three universities that are consistently ranked among the top in the world — not just McGill and U of T, but also UBC — and, depending on the ranking, the order changes," said Vaughan Dowie, McGill's executive head of public affairs.
Mr. Dowie pointed out that under the QS University Rankings, which use the same methodology that Times Higher did last year and were released last week, McGill is placed 19th in the world, a spot higher than last year, while U of T comes in 29th.
The annual release of the World University Rankings is a key event whose results are closely monitored by administrators and faculty.
But the benefit to the ranked Canadian schools will mostly come from the boost to their reputation among international students looking to study in Canada, who pay more attention to global rankings than Canadian students, said Ken Steele, senior vice-president with higher-education marketing consultancy Academica Group Inc.
He noted the "surprising changes" in this year's list, notably the likes of Waterloo and Queen's being beaten out by less-heralded schools such as SFU and Victoria.
Under the more rigorous methodology, THE used 13 performance indicators, compared with just six in the past.
"This year's global rankings are different. They are based on more than 10 months of detailed, open consultation with the international academic community. In close concert with a new rankings data supplier, Thomson Reuters, and with input from almost 50 leading figures from 15 countries across every continent, THE has developed a new rankings methodology for a new era of globalized higher education," said Phil Baty, editor of the rankings at THE.
As in previous years, the U.S. dominates, taking all top five places and boasting 25 per cent of the 200 schools. Britain is still second, with 29 instituions in the list, but is slowly losing ground to Asian institutions, he said.
"This new table offers a more reliable view of Canada's higher education and its place in the world. While it will not make pleasant reading for all nations, Canada should be generally pleased," Mr. Baty said. "While other commonwealth nations find themselves suffering under THE's new methodology, which is less about reputation and more about real output, Canada bucks this trend. Although it has fewer institutions in the top 200 than it may have expected, those that are there represent a stellar performance."
Editor's note: Results from The Globe and Mail's own annual survey of Canadian universities is available in the Canadian University Report 2011.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings methodology
