REF

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.