George Brown College’s office of research and innovation brings in $14.2 million in 2014
George Brown was named the #1 research college in Canada. Photo: Casa Loma campus/George Brown College
According to rankings generated by Research Infosource, George Brown College (GBC) was the top research college in Canada in 2014. Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges factors in the amount of income each college brings in for research projects.
Dawn Davidson, the director of research and innovation for George Brown, said the rating is, “a fabulous way of bolstering the reputation of the college.”
GBC landed the top spot this year by bringing in $14.2 million in research revenue in 2014. For Davidson, securing this kind of funding for research projects means considerable benefits for students.
“The funding goes directly to support the projects that we’re doing with our industry and community partners and every single one of those projects involves students,” said Davidson.
Working with industry partners on project teams is where students gain valuable experience and build relationships towards securing jobs after graduation according to Davidson.
Acknowledgement like Research Infosource’s rankings are well received, but GBC is really interested in research in order to develop its students. “We’re in the business of doing research so that our students get benefits,” said Davidson
Aside from bringing in the most research money, Research Infosource found that George Brown ranked first in active research partnerships with 159, ahead of Cegep de Trois-Rivieres (137), and Algonquin College (135).
In a press release, Research Infosource noted a significant decline in the growth of research income for Canadian colleges. Ron Freedman, CEO of the group, said that 2014’s research revenue increase of 4.7 percent would be considerable if it didn’t pale in comparison to consecutive years of more than 30 per cent growth.
“Regardless,” said Freedman, “the overall trend is positive, as evidenced by the fact that we saw income growing at 31 of the top 50 colleges.”
