Latest assessment of UK academic research ranks UEA 21st in the country

The Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) ranks UEA 21st among mainstream British universities, or 28th out of 154 when specialist institutions are included. UEA is one of the biggest climbers with a rise of 12 places since the last assessment in 2008.

The results show that more than 82 per cent of UEA research is now classified as either ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ - compared with 50 per cent in 2008. This confirms UEA’s position as a premier research institution across the arts, sciences, health and social sciences, making a substantial impact on the global challenges facing society.

REF is a periodic national exercise by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to assess the quality and impact of research at UK universities. The results are used to allocate around £2 billion of research funding to universities each year.

Research was submitted to REF2014 under 36 separate areas of study, or Units of Assessment, and eight UEA subjects have made the UK top 10.

Social Work is one of UEA’s highest-achieving individual subjects, with almost half of its research ranked world-leading and an overall position of 4th in the UK. Included in the submission by the School of Social Work was their creation of a national database analysing child abuse cases that resulted in death or serious injury. (Read case study)

Also ranked 4th in the country is International Development, with American Studies and Languages collectively ranked in 5th place.

UEA’s Food Science research also fared well at 8th place. And a further three subject areas each achieved 10th place in their Units of Assessment – English, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences.

This is the first time that the ‘impact’ of university research on economic growth, health and social well-being, and improved quality of life has been assessed alongside overall quality. For example, research submitted by the School of Environmental Sciences, which included the determination of carbon emissions and CFCs in the atmosphere, and their effect on global temperatures, was shown to have a significant societal impact. (Read case study)

UEA Vice-Chancellor Prof David Richardson said: “REF2014 is the culmination of six years of hard work by our research staff and I am thrilled their efforts have been recognised with such positive results that confirm UEA as a premier research institution.

“The aim of our research is to get a better understanding of the world around us, from molecular biology to nutrition to business.

“REF provides an independent assessment of the quality of this research, including the environment in which we work, the support we provide to our postgraduate researchers, research assistants and academic colleagues, our ability to win research funding, and the impact of our research on wider society. It provides an opportunity to reflect on our work and benchmark against other top UK universities.”