The university is a member of the U15 universities and the Worldwide Universities Network, an organization of 19 universities on six continents. In 2018, Research Infosource named the University of Alberta the fifth best research university, with a sponsored research income (external sources of funding) of $513.313 million in 2017. In the same year, the university's faculty averaged a sponsored research income of $242,100, while its graduate students averaged a sponsored research income of $69,400. The university receives nearly $500 million each year for research from external sources. The university houses over 400 distinct research laboratories.