Research Performance
Research income
SFU is among Canada's fastest growing research intensive universities measured by growth of research income. Our sponsored research income has grown by 37.5% over the past 10 years, reaching $141.1 million in 2022.
Research Output
Research at SFU spans eight faculties, covering a broad range of fundamental, interdisciplinary and applied research topics, as outlined in our Strategic Research Plan. On average, SFU researchers publish 2,600 journal articles per year, over 40% of which appear in the world's top 10% journals (Source: Scopus).
University research rankings
SFU is consistently ranked among Canada's top research intensive universities in major national and global ranking systems.
The World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI) 2023 ranks SFU as:
- #1 Canadian university for entrepreneurial spirit (ranked 2nd worldwide)
- #1 innovative university in Canada, and the only Canadian university to rank in the top 100 worldwide
- #1 Canadian university for industrial application.
The 2023 Times Higher Education's Impact Rankings—which measure universities’ strengths in advancing the United Nations’ sustainable development goals—rank SFU as the world's top university for global impact on sustainable cities and communities, and 5th in the world for climate action.
As an early adopter of the impact rankings, SFU has
been recognized over the past three years as a global leader
in: Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11); Climate
Action (SDG 13); and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
ISDG 16).
Learn more at sfu.ca/sdgs
In its 2023 World University Rankings, Times Higher Education ranks SFU tied for 11th in Canada. SFU is one of the top 251-300 universities in the world.
The 2023 QS World University Rankings positioned SFU within the top-330 in the world, maintaining our rank as 13th in Canada. In addition, we are within the top-10 in Canada for citations per faculty.
collaborations
SFU's research is guided by a strategy for wide-reaching collaborations at the local, national and international levels. This strategy supports knowledge generation and transfer across many sectors. SFU has a number of international partnerships in countries spanning the globe.
SFU International
SFU International (SFUi) is the university's hub of international relationships, knowledge and resources to mobilize the global reach of SFU’s teaching, research and community engagement.