‘World-leading’ research highlighted at Yorkshire universities
RESEARCH from Yorkshire universities has been praised in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) which assesses all the research published by UK institutions.
Following the announcement of the REF results today, the University of Leeds ranked in 10th place for research power, a measure of the number of people producing the highest quality research.
The assessment identified that over 80% of research at Leeds has a top quality rating of either “world leading” or “internationally excellent”.
Leeds Trinity University confirmed that 20% of all Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management research outputs have been identified as world-leading. In addition, 10% of its English Language and Literature research outputs were also rated 4*, world-leading.
Meanwhile, Sheffield Hallam University’s research programme was ranked in the top five of all UK modern universities which submitted more than one research area in the national REF.
Overall, 65% of the research submitted by Sheffield Hallam received the prestigious 4* and 3* rating as world-leading and internationally excellent, moving the University up 25 places in the national research league tables.
Of all the research submitted by the University, 18% was rated as world-leading (achieving a 4* rating) and 47% was rated as internationally excellent (3*) by the REF.
The REF is an internationally-recognised exercise to measure the quality of UK university research. The results are used to allocate around £2bn of government funding for research each year.
In terms of ‘research power’, which accounts for both the quality and the quantity of research, Leeds Beckett came second in the country for Sport and Exercise Science, Leisure and Tourism – up from third in 2008 – with 59% of the research submitted being assessed as world leading or internationally excellent. It also came in the top ten in the Communication, Culture and Media Studies, Library and Information Management unit. The University’s results for the Architecture, Built Environment and Planning unit – which it entered for the first time – were also noteworthy, with 37% of its research being rated world leading or internationally excellent.
And at the University of Sheffield, the submission for biomedical sciences, including staff from the faculties of both Science and Medicine, achieved particularly outstanding results, coming top in the UK in its Unit of Assessment for subjects allied to healthcare. History, Politics, and Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, were each ranked third best in the country. A further five departments were judged to be in the top five: Biological Sciences, Computer Science, Civil Engineering, Education and Architecture, Landscape and Town and Regional Planning. Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Law, Music and Mechanical Engineering (with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) were ranked in the top ten amongst other UK higher education institutions.
Commenting on the outcome of the REF, pro-vice chancellor for research and innovation at the University, Professor Richard Jones, said: “The Research Excellence Framework is a rigorous assessment process that has demonstrated just how powerful the UK’s university research base is, and the University of Sheffield is proud to have been judged to be a very strong player in that system.”
Professor Ray Lloyd, pro vice-chancellor (academic) of Leeds Trinity University, said that today’s results are indicative of the university’s “appetite and aspiration” to strengthen the role of research in the institution which has only had full university status for less than two years.
“We are extremely proud of the world-leading research status our academics have achieved, which will go a long way in forming part of our strategy to secure Research Degree Awarding Powers,” he said.
“We have made a significant investment to create an environment that will enable our academic staff to produce even more of the high quality research they have shown themselves capable of. In addition, we are investing heavily in the development of the next generation of researchers, and I believe today’s results give an indication of the research excellence that is set to follow. We confidently expect to perform even better at the next assessment, with world-leading research from more staff in more areas of endeavour.”
Professor Paul Harrison, pro-vice chancellor for research at Sheffield Hallam, said: “These fantastic results are yet further evidence that world-class research exists across the UK’s universities, and not least in modern institutions like Sheffield Hallam University. At Sheffield Hallam, our research is internationally excellent, wide ranging and highly applied, touching people’s lives and having a positive impact on society. I am delighted with these results which underline our recent accolade in the 2015 Times and Sunday Times university guide table as the top-ranked modern university in the North of England.”
Professor Andrew Slade, deputy vice chancellor for Research & Enterprise at Leeds Beckett said: “Our excellent results are testament to the strategy we adopted at our University to cluster our research activity around very specific areas of strength. We established four research institutes in just four years.
“I am delighted to see improvements in quality in all areas compared to the previous research assessment in 2008. We also have a number of emerging areas of research with a strong base on which to build, with some really encouraging results in five new units which we entered this time. The results show that we are absolutely committed to having world leading, practical research, which underpins our teaching and delivery of our courses and this in turn provides an inspirational and dynamic environment in which our students can thrive.”
