TORONTO - For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Toronto has earned the highest possible marks from Research Infosource Inc. in its annual rankings for the best Canadian research universities of 2009.

U of T placed first overall in the Medical/Doctoral category once again in this year's results. The ranking is determined by several criteria, including the amount of research a university published in a given year as well as the level of funding generated for that research.

"This is a marvelous tribute to the brilliant and innovative work of UofT scholars and researchers," said Professor Paul Young, Vice-President, Research. "It is further evidence that our research is making a tangible impact on global society across the disciplines in the life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences and humanities. I extend my congratulations to the UofT research community on this brilliant showing."

The rankings are included in Research Infosource's Canada Top 50 Research Universities List 2009, published on its Web site, www.researchinfosource.com.

UofT has performed well in a number of prestigious rankings this year that have focused on the University's research performance compared to its international peers. This summer, the University was 11th in rankings compiled by the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT), followed by a 13th-place finish by ScienceWatch.com.

In September, the SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) placed UofT fourth amongst institutions of higher learning. Most recently, the Times Higher Education -- QS World University Rankings surveyed almost 10,000 international academics to rank the reputation of 621 universities worldwide (excluding their own institution) and UofT placed ninth worldwide in that peer review.

Research Infosource obtained its data from Statistics Canada and the Research Infosource Canadian University R&D database. The score in each category is out of a possible 100 points based on the following indicators: total sponsored research income (20%); faculty research intensity (20%); total number of publications (20%); publication intensity in leading journals (20%); and, publication impact (20%). For each measure, the top ranking institution is assigned a score of 100 and the other institutions' scores are calculated as a percentage of the first ranking institution.

Research Infosource Inc. is a division of The Impact Group, a source of research and development information in Canada.