TECHNE and REF2014
TECHNE members have strong showing in REF2014
TECHNE members have demonstrated substantial research strengths across a range of subjects in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014).
The University of the Arts London and the Royal College of Art are both in the top ten of single-subject institutions and Royal Holloway is in the top 25% of institutions for ‘world-leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’ research. The University of Brighton is joint 27th of all institutions for impact.
In terms of specific subjects, there were star performances from Dance at Roehampton (top Dance unit, joint second overall and first for impact in Music, Drama, Dance & Performing Arts) and Geography at Royal Holloway (joint second overall). English at Kingston was ranked joint first in terms of impact with a 100% 4* submission. The University of the Arts London came first in the power ranking (weighted for the number of staff submitted) in the Art and Design category, and the Royal College of Art is the highest ranking UK specialist art and design institution in terms of 4* research overall.
Royal Holloway’s Music Department was placed third among Music departments and its Department of Drama and Theatre was ranked fourth among Drama Departments, both for work in the highest two categories (4* and 3*). Roehampton was tenth in Drama. Modern Languages and Media Arts at Royal Holloway were both in the top tenoverall among comparable departments.
Several member institutions performed particularly well in terms of the impact of their research, an aspect which TECHNE students may find of particular interest. (Assessment of impact was based on case studies which demonstrated how research generated social, cultural or economic benefits.) Modern Languages & Linguistics at Roehampton was ranked 11th for impact. History at Royal Holloway was in joint eighth place and in Communication, Cultural and Media Studies and Library and Information Management Brighton came joint seventh. English at Surrey also did well in terms of impact being ranked joint 11th out of 89 submissions. One hundred percent of the Royal College of Art’s impact and environment was assessed as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.
REF2014 provides a robust and thorough assessment of the quality of UK universities’ research in all disciplines and is the most influential UK-wide benchmark for research. The results will be used by the four UK higher education funding bodies to allocate research funding to universities. Full details can be found on the Times Higher Education www.timeshighereducation.co.uk or HEFCE www.hefce.ac.uk websites.