Rankings confirm national and global impact of UVic research

In terms of scientific influence, the University of Victoria is a national leader among the world’s top tier of universities, according to newly released international rankings.

In the prestigious Leiden rankings, which are produced annually by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands, UVic places third in Canada for overall scientific impact and first in the country in two broad fields—mathematics and computer science, and physical sciences and engineering.

Last year, UVic was fourth in Canada overall and second in math, computer science and engineering.

The Leiden rankings measure the scientific performance of 750 world-leading universities, focusing exclusively on citation impact and scientific collaboration. Citations measure how influential a researcher is over time.

UVic is the top Canadian university without a medical school in four of Leiden’s five ranking categories, notes Dr. David Castle, UVic’s vice-president research. “Medical schools and their associated research hospitals tend to generate high research intensity, so for UVic to rank so well speaks volumes about the quality, reach and impact of our research.”
Among the 750 universities worldwide, UVic is in 116th place for global impact in all sciences, up from 183rd place in 2014. It ranks 46th in math and computer science, and 71st in physical sciences and engineering.
The 2015 Leiden rankings, released late last week, also highlight another strong characteristic of UVic—its global perspective. UVic researchers publish a higher proportion of research based on international partnerships than any other Canadian university.

The Leiden results reinforce another ranking of field-specific scientific leadership released last month. In the QS World University Subject Rankings, which rely on academic and employer reputation surveys, UVic is rated among the world’s top 200 in six fields: Earth and marine sciences, English language and literature, geography, law, philosophy, psychology.

Rankings are used by students to help select universities and courses, by researchers to inform career decisions and identify new partners, and by university managers to set strategic priorities for research funding.

“Rankings are like a report card for universities and UVic is achieving top marks,” says Castle. “Our success in these international rankings is a testament to the creativity and insight of our highly dedicated researchers.”

To view the Leiden rankings, visit http://www.leidenranking.com/
To view the QS rankings visit http://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings/2015
 

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