The University of Northern British Columbia increased its scores across the board in the latest edition of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

For the third consecutive year, UNBC ranks among the top five per cent of universities in the world and is the only Canadian university of its size to make the grade . UNBC finished in the group ranked between 801st and 1,000th out of the nearly 1,400 universities from 92 countries in the report.  

“It is a tribute to our devoted faculty, dedicated students, diligent staff and committed supporters that UNBC continues to excel on the world stage,” says UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks. “It is fabulous to see UNBC increase its score in every category Times Higher Education uses to measure elite global universities.”

UNBC saw steady growth in each of the five categories Times Higher Education considers. The biggest jump came in citations, used to measure the influence research conducted at UNBC is having at other institutions around the world. UNBC scored 42 points in the 2020 rankings, compared with 28.5 a year ago - good enough to place 748th overall.  

For a second straight year, research is UNBC’s strongest category. UNBC placed 675th in the category, which examines the volume of publication and research income as well as the institution’s reputation for research. Since UNBC made its debut in the rankings in 2018, the research score has steadily increased from 13.1 points, to 18.5.

UNBC also scored noticeably better in the teaching pillar, which measures everything from the student-to-faculty ratio, the percentage of faculty with doctoral degrees and the university’s reputation for excellence in teaching. This year UNBC scored 19.3, up from 17.9 last year.

In the other two categories, international outlook and industry income, UNBC saw modest gains. International outlook, which looks at international staff, students and research collaborations, edged up to 37.3 from 37.1. Industry income, a metric of knowledge transfer, climbed to 34.8 from 34.4.