UofT rated top Canadian university for academic and research performance in
prestigious international rankings

TORONTO , Oct. 30 /CNW/ - The University of Toronto's strong academic and research performance ranks among the best in the world - and the best in Canada - in prestigious international rankings body announced today.

UofT ranked 27th, the best of any Canadian university, in Shanghai Jiao Tong University's annual Academic Ranking of World Universities report. Released October 29, 2009 , the report analyses 1200 universities on research output, the quality of faculty and the quality of education.

UofT finished 24th in these rankings last year and 23rd in 2007.

"This ranking is further affirmation of the quality of UofT's faculty and students and their relentless focus on academic excellence and discoveries of real importance," said Professor Cheryl Misak , Vice-President and Provost. "We're very honoured to be recognized by our international peers as being among the best research universities in the world."

The University also fared well in Shanghai's ranking by field and by individual subject. In particular, UofT finished 8th in the world in the subject of Computer Science and 19th internationally in the field of Engineering, Technology and Computer Sciences.

Shanghai Jiao Tong ranks universities by measuring several indicators of academic or research performance. These include: alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals; highly cited researchers; articles published in Nature and Science; articles indexed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic performance of an institution.

Harvard University was the top university in the rankings, followed by Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Since Shanghai Jiao Tong's rankings began in 2003, UofT has consistently ranked in the top 30 of the world's best universities and has consistently been the top Canadian performer.

This year's result comes on the heels of impressive scores in other international and domestic rankings:

    
    - 11th in rankings compiled by the Higher Education Evaluation and
      Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT);
    - 13th-place finish in ScienceWatch.com;
    - 4th in SCImago Institutions Rankings;
    - 9th in the Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings that
      surveyed almost 10,000 international academics about the reputation of
      621 universities worldwide; and,
    - 1st in the Medical/Doctoral category in Research Infosource Inc.
      rankings.
    

For full result of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings, go to: http://www.arwu.org/

For further information: Laurie Stephens, University of Toronto, [phone]