Research funding from external sources at Dalhousie University rose by about $13 million to $194 million in 2021, according to the school’s annual Research and Innovation Report.

In the report’s introduction, Vice President of Research and Innovation Alice Aiken said Dalhousie is on track to surpass its goal of $200 million worth of externally funded research by 2023. The $194 million includes funding delivered via the Dal Innovates suite of entrepreneurship programs, such as the Ready2Launch and Lab2Market accelerators, as well as the Emera ideaHUB startup centre and the Atlantic arm of international startup accelerator Creative Destruction Lab.

Deep technology and life sciences startups are growing in prominence within Atlantic Canada’s startup ecosystem. Many of the fields' rainmakers -- like battery startup Novonix, now Australian-owned, and sleep apnea treatment specialist NovaResp -- have emerged from Dalhousie, making the annual research report a potential barometer for future trends in the innovation ecosystem.

“The next five years hold much promise as we grow our research clusters to leverage developing strengths, support national and regional priorities, and embrace opportunities to assume international leadership,” wrote Aiken, who is in the final year of her five-year mandate.

Dalhousie’s policy is to aim its research at five central “pillars”: sustainable ocean research; cleantech, energy and the environment; culture, society and community development; food security; and public health.

The report said Dalhousie has now helped launch more than 250 startups since 2005. And the influence of the university’s researchers may be growing. Published research has increased 13 percent over the past two years for a total of 9,943 papers, and that research is being cited 36 percent more.

In 2021, Dalhousie ranked 272nd out of 1,300 institutions globally in the QS World University Rankings from high education data and analytics specialist QS Quacquarelli Symonds -- a 19-place improvement over the previous year.

Of the $194 million, just over $110 million came from the federal government, a little more than $20 million came from industry collaborators and $11 million was provided by the province. Other sources of funding included other universities and foreign governments.

Disclosure: Dalhousie is a client of Entrevestor.