‘We’re a university that’s on the move’

Research funding at Manitoba’s largest university has surged amid a change in how the post-secondary approaches projects.

The University of Manitoba has been recognized as a growth leader on the Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities 2025 list, compiled by Research Infosource Inc.

“We’ve upped our game,” said Mario Pinto, University of Manitoba vice-president research and international.

The ranking looks at post-secondaries’ fiscal year 2024 results. The University of Manitoba clocked its highest not-for-profit research funding ever that year.

It ranked first in year-over-year research income growth from non-profits — a 39 per cent rise, to $96 million — among fellow universities.

It came second for corporate research income growth, with a 45 per cent year-over-year boost to $37 million.

Overall, the institution clocked a research income of $246 million. It’s a 16.6 per cent jump from 2023.

“I imagine that ’24-25 will be even better,” Pinto said. “We’re a university that’s on the move.”

He began overseeing the post-secondary’s research activities three years ago. He and colleagues noticed a problem: the University of Manitoba lands in the bottom tier of U15 Canada, a group of research-intensive universities.

Pinto and fellow staff spent a year consulting the institution’s academics. They landed on a five-year strategic plan that emphasizes interdepartmental collaboration on research.

“The task at hand was to do something very unusual to differentiate ourselves, to move up into the higher brackets within the U15,” Pinto said.

Faculty has “rallied around” the plan, he added.

Philip Ferguson, a mechanical engineering professor, is conducting research with colleagues from the arts, business, social work, environment and medicine departments. Community members from Churchill and Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut are also involved.

The researchers are developing spacecraft to withstand Arctic temperatures. Their projects aim to capture sea ice data and bolster communications infrastructure in the North.

“If we’re solving these really big … hairy and audacious problems, we can’t just solve them with engineering,” Ferguson said. “This needs to be a group effort.”

Ferguson’s team has also partnered with Magellan Aerospace. Ferguson plans to launch two spacecraft by the end of 2026.

“(We’re) really rethinking what it means to do research in academic settings,” he said. “We’re seeing the fruits of that today with these fantastic research grants.”

The University of Manitoba now ranks 13th of Canada’s top 50 research universities. It previously was 14th.

The University of Toronto, University of Montreal and McGill University topped the list of research universities. The University of Toronto’s research income exceeded $1.5 billion last year.

Pinto aims to place the University of Manitoba in the top 10 by 2029. A higher ranking can lead to more investment and talent recruitment, he said.

The Winnipeg-based university, like others across Canada, has seen income from foreign students slashed. Ottawa tightened the number of immigrants it intakes; the University of Manitoba saw a 30 per cent decrease in international enrolment by October of 2024.

University of Manitoba research is subsidized by international students. Staff have been working “very hard” to make up the lost money through outside funding, such as from corporations, Pinto said.

The university counts 1,700 researchers (who are also professors). It’s hired 100 early career researchers over the last year, Pinto said.

Several U.S.-based academics have applied to high-level University of Manitoba research positions over the past year. It comes as American post-secondaries grapple with federal funding cuts. The university may hire a handful next fall, Pinto said.

“The investment in the future is sound,” he said. “We hope to be even more competitive.”

Its overall research income growth came third of the 50 universities. The University of Saskatchewan and University of Sherbrooke took the top two slots, with increases of 34.6 and 19 per cent, respectively.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com