REF2014 Results
The University received the results of its submission to the Research Excellence Framework, REF2014, at the end of 2014.
Over 75% of research activity at Sussex is categorised as world leading or internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour. Overall, the University was placed 36th (of multi-disciplinary institutions) by GPA.
Excellent results for overall research quality were received for Psychology, Biological Sciences, International Relations, Anthropology, Area Studies (Politics), English, History, and Media & Film, all of which appeared in the UK top 15. Particularly noteworthy is the University’s History submission, which was the highest rated in the UK for the quality of its outputs, and the English submission, which has risen from 31st to 9th across the UK since RAE2008. Psychology (which included elements of BSMS) achieved a top-ten position, as did Biological Sciences (which also included elements of BSMS). Strong results also came from Sussex submissions in Psychology, Geography, International Relations, Anthropology, and Media & Film. In Psychology, almost all (84%) of the research impact was rated as 4* (the highest available grade), while Sussex Geography had the most 4* rated impact of any Geography submission across the UK.
The results are displayed in the tables below.
The first table shows the overall quality profile of the research submitted by the University in each Unit of Assessment (UoA). The table indicates how these UoAs in which the University made a submission correspond to the Schools and departments (or equivalent) within the University.
A more detailed profile of results in each UoA submission, with a breakdown into the three elements of the submission (research outputs, impact, and environment) is shown as a pdf linked to each UoA listed in the table.
Unit of Assessment | UoS Department(s) | FTE | 4* | 3* | 2* | 1* | u/c | GPA | Rank |
3 - Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy |
BSMS | 5.0 | 38% | 44% | 16% | 1% | 1% | 3.17 | 32 of 94 |
4 - Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience | Psychology, BSMS | 41.4 | 45% | 46% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 3.36 | 10 of 82 |
5 - Biological Sciences | Life Sciences (excluding Chemistry), BSMS |
47.6 | 48% | 39% | 9% | 1% | 3% | 3.28 | 10 of 44 |
8 - Chemistry | Chemistry | 16.8 | 11% | 50% | 36% | 0% | 3% | 2.66 | 36 of 37 |
9 - Physics | Physics and Astronomy | 24.7 | 17% | 60% | 22% | 0% | 1% | 2.92 | 34 of 41 |
10 - Mathematical Sciences | Mathematics | 20.0 | 11% | 61% | 25% | 3% | 0% | 2.80 | 39 of 53 |
11 - Computer Science and Informatics | Informatics | 14.6 | 19% | 54% | 27% | 0% | 0% | 2.92 | 34 of 89 |
15 - General Engineering | Engineering and Design | 14.0 | 11% | 75% | 14% | 0% | 0% | 2.97 | 26 of 62 |
17 - Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology | Geography | 20.7 | 28% | 51% | 19% | 2% | 0% | 3.05 | 22 of 74 |
18 - Economics and Econometrics | Economics | 17.4 | 17% | 53% | 28% | 1% | 1% | 2.84 | 18 of 28 |
19 - Business and Management Studies | Business and Management, SPRU | 44.0 | 20% | 50% | 27% | 3% | 0% | 2.87 | 36 of 101 |
20 - Law | Sussex Law School | 31.0 | 13% | 51% | 27% | 9% | 0% | 2.68 | 40 of 67 |
21 - Politics and International Studies | International Relations | 21.0 | 29% | 49% | 18% | 4% | 0% | 3.03 | 12 of 56 |
22 - Social Work and Social Policy | Social Work | 12.4 | 22% | 42% | 32% | 4% | 0% | 2.82 | 31 of 62 |
23 - Sociology | Sociology | 16.3 | 11% | 56% | 31% | 1% | 1% | 2.75 | 22 of 29 |
24 - Anthropology and Development Studies | Anthropology | 18.5 | 24% | 45% | 29% | 2% | 0% | 2.91 | 10 of 25 |
25 - Education | Education | 16.1 | 25% | 48% | 24% | 3% | 0% | 2.95 | 25 of 76 |
27 - Area Studies | Politics | 13.0 | 21% | 51% | 25% | 3% | 0% | 2.90 | 13 of 23 |
29 - English Language and Literature | English | 34.6 | 45% | 39% | 15% | 1% | 0% | 3.28 | 9 of 89 |
30 - History | History | 20.0 | 39% | 44% | 16% | 1% | 0% | 3.21 | 15 of 83 |
32 - Philosophy | Philosophy | 10.5 | 25% | 52% | 19% | 4% | 0% | 2.98 | 16 of 40 |
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory | Art History | 11.5 | 13% | 40% | 47% | 0% | 0% | 2.66 | 57 of 84 |
35 - Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts | Music | 4.2 | 15% | 63% | 22% | 0% | 0% | 2.93 | 40 of 84 |
36 - Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management |
Media and Film | 25.5 | 41% | 36% | 22% | 1% | 0% | 3.17 | 15 of 67 |
All University | 500.8 | 27.5% | 48.5% | 21.5% | 2.0% | 0.5% | 3.01 | 36 of 112 |
The rankings shown above represent the University's (or an individual submission's) place in a ranking of all institutions (except those which made five submissions or fewer).
Further detail is shown in the next table, which shows the ranking of Sussex submissions within the total number of submissions to each UoA, measured by several different indicators:
Unit of Assessment | Total no. of submissions |
GPA | GPA Rank |
4* | 4* Rank |
4*/3* | 4*/3* Rank |
QI | QI Rank |
Power | Power Rank |
3 - Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy |
94 | 3.17 | 32 | 38% | 24 | 82% | 41 | 53 | 29 | 0.04 | 82 |
4 - Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience | 82 | 3.36 | 10 | 45% | 14 | 91% | 8 | 60 | 13 | 0.14 | 13 |
5 - Biological Sciences | 44 | 3.28 | 10 | 48% | 7 | 87% | 13 | 61 | 10 | 0.21 | 14 |
8 - Chemistry | 37 | 2.66 | 36 | 11% | 29 | 61% | 36 | 28 | 33 | 0.09 | 34 |
9 - Physics | 41 | 2.92 | 34 | 17% | 30 | 77% | 33 | 37 | 34 | 0.11 | 32 |
10 - Mathematical Sciences | 53 | 2.80 | 39 | 11% | 37 | 72% | 38 | 31 | 39 | 0.06 | 37 |
11 - Computer Science and Informatics | 89 | 2.92 | 34 | 19% | 36 | 73% | 36 | 37 | 34 | 0.10 | 47 |
15 - General Engineering | 62 | 2.97 | 26 | 11% | 29 | 86% | 24 | 36 | 27 | 0.04 | 37 |
17 - Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology | 74 | 3.05 | 22 | 28% | 27 | 79% | 15 | 45 | 26 | 0.27 | 30 |
18 - Economics and Econometrics | 28 | 2.84 | 18 | 17% | 13 | 70% | 19 | 35 | 17 | 0.11 | 22 |
19 - Business and Management Studies | 101 | 2.87 | 36 | 20% | 40 | 70% | 34 | 37 | 38 | 0.24 | 32 |
20 - Law | 67 | 2.68 | 40 | 13% | 38 | 64% | 37 | 30 | 40 | 0.16 | 26 |
21 - Politics and International Studies | 56 | 3.03 | 12 | 29% | 14 | 78% | 10 | 45 | 12 | 0.20 | 20 |
22 - Social Work and Social Policy | 62 | 2.82 | 31 | 22% | 28 | 64% | 32 | 36 | 30 | 0.12 | 37 |
23 - Sociology | 29 | 2.75 | 22 | 11% | 26 | 67% | 18 | 30 | 24 | 0.17 | 23 |
24 - Anthropology and Development Studies | 25 | 2.91 | 10 | 24% | 13 | 69% | 10 | 39 | 13 | 0.31 | 16 |
25 - Education | 76 | 2.95 | 25 | 25% | 22 | 73% | 26 | 41 | 24 | 0.05 | 25 |
27 - Area Studies | 23 | 2.90 | 13 | 21% | 14 | 72% | 12 | 38 | 14 | 0.14 | 15 |
29 - English Language and Literature | 89 | 3.28 | 9 | 45% | 10 | 84% | 13 | 58 | 10 | 0.41 | 15 |
30 - History | 83 | 3.21 | 15 | 39% | 16 | 83% | 11 | 54 | 16 | 0.14 | 28 |
32 - Philosophy | 40 | 2.98 | 16 | 25% | 17 | 77% | 14 | 42 | 16 | 0.10 | 20 |
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory | 84 | 2.66 | 57 | 13% | 60 | 53% | 62 | 26 | 62 | 0.06 | 54 |
35 - Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts | 84 | 2.93 | 40 | 15% | 60 | 78% | 29 | 36 | 54 | 0.07 | 72 |
36 - Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management |
67 | 3.17 | 15 | 41% | 13 | 77% | 18 | 53 | 14 | 0.65 | 5 |
All University | 154 | 3.01 | 50 | 27.5% | 46 | 76.0% | 49 | 44 | 50 | 0.15 | 34 |
All University (UoA with >5 submissions) | 36 | 33 | 38 | 36 | 34 |
In the table above, QI (Quality Index) weights the profile using the current funding formula (3 for 4*, 1 for 3*, 0 for the rest), and is a figure out of 100.
Power is the QI multiplied by the FTE submitted, and is a figure in the range 0-1, where 1 represents the institution with the greatest weight (QI x FTE).
Particular successes in the results were noted in Psychology, Biological Sciences, International Relations, Anthropology, Area Studies (Politics), English, History, and Media & Film.
Further commentary on the results of the REF across the UK Higher Education sector is published by the Times Higher Education and by Research Fortnight.
About REF 2014
The four UK higher education funding bodies allocate around £1.8 billion per year of research funding to UK universities, based on the quality and volume of each university’s research. To distribute funds selectively on the basis of quality, the funding bodies assess universities’ research through a periodic exercise. This was previously known as the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), and was last conducted in 2008. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) replaced the RAE. It assessed the quality and impact of research submitted by UK universities across all disciplines. The results are used by the funding bodies to allocate block-grant research funding to universities.
The University of Sussex submission to REF2014 included -
- 1,735 research outputs (e.g. books and journal articles) carried out by 523 academic staff
- 756 PhD degrees
- £134m of research income
- 118 documents containing 547 pages of narrative.
REF2014 Key Facts:
● 154 UK universities took part. They made 1,911 submissions for:
- 52,077 academic staff
- 191,232 research outputs
- 6,975 impact case studies.
● 36 expert sub-panels reviewed the submissions, overseen by four main panels
● around £2 billion per year of research funding will be allocated on the basis of the results.