THUNDER BAY -- When it comes to funding its research without government money, Lakehead University is number one.
Lakehead topped Re$earch Infosource's ranking of universities that focus on undergraduate programs. The local university has the highest total sponsored research income and had the most publications, although those publications had the lowest profile among the top four schools.
"This has been a great year for Lakehead," said Re$earch Infosource's CEO Ron Freedman.
"Not only is Lakehead the 'Research University of the Year' in the undergraduate category, it performed very well in terms of research partnerships with the non-profit sector. This means the university is combining high quality research with community impact."
Over the last decade, Lakehead has increased its sponsored research income by 133 per cent. Its $18,325,000 in non-profit funding between 2010 and 2014 was the highest in Canada, making up 16.9 per cent of LU's overall research dollars.
Maclean's Magazine also recognized LU in its 2014 university rankings as having Ontario's highest total research dollars with an emphasis on grants in social sciences and humanities.
Andrew Dean is Lakehead's vice president of research, economic development and innovation. He said as accessing government research funds becomes more challenging across Canada, researchers are turning to the non-profit sector for collaboration and funding.
"As a university where we have a lot of academic freedom, I think it's very important as researchers to be aware of possible pulls in one direction or another by non-governmental organizations, especially on the corporate side and we're very cognizant about that here," he said.
"We have had instances where we've had issues with accepting money on certain research projects. It's one of the things we do go through with researchers."
Dean added those arrangements, when they do develop into partnerships, ensure intellectual property rights and integrity are respected."
