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New research quality study highlights world leading research at University of Leicester

Museum Studies at Leicester is top ranked of any subject area at any university in the UK

Issued on 18 December 2008

New research data published today (December 18) has confirmed the University of Leicester’s position as a leading research university.

And it has revealed that Museum Studies at the University of Leicester has the greatest cluster of world-leading researchers compared with any discipline in any university in the UK.

Results of the 2008 National Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) demonstrate the strength of the University's research across all of its broad range of subject areas.

The RAE adjudged Leicester to have world leading research in every subject panel and identified Museum Studies (at 65%) as having the highest proportion of world leading researchers compared with any other subject area in the UK.

Other research stars at Leicester were Medicine, Economics, Archaeology, Computer Science, Geology, English, Business and Management. These areas of research excellence add to Leicester’s portfolio of research strength in subjects like History, Physics, Engineering and Genetics, home of genetic fingerprinting.

Leicester also emerged as having one of the highest proportions of staff who are research active in the UK, with approximately 93% of staff submitted for the exercise. Of these, Leicester has 87% of research activity deemed by the RAE to be producing internationally significant research

Professor Ian Postlethwaite, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research said: “Staff at Leicester are to be congratulated on this outstanding performance in this assessment of research quality.

“Leicester submitted one of the highest proportions of staff of any UK university which is a testament to how research is embedded across all disciplines in the University. One of the reasons why the University of Leicester entered most of its research-active staff into the exercise was that we really value the work of all our researchers and not just the established “stars”. It is important to encourage and motivate researchers at whatever stage they have reached in their career.

"To see, therefore, that 87% of our research activity is judged to be of international quality is wonderful and a major achievement for the University.”

Commenting on the success of Museum Studies, Professor Simon Knell, Dean of Arts and a member of the Museum Studies cluster, said: “This is absolutely amazing news. I am delighted for my colleagues in the Department who have worked so hard to develop new approaches to research and also for the University which has shown unwavering support for the Department of Museum Studies. It has done so for more than 40 years. Over that time Leicester has played a key role in turning a field devoted to training museum professionals into a research field capable of shaping social and intellectual agenda, and encouraging a profession to rethink its role. Its Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG) has, for example, contributed significantly to shaping national policy with regard to learning, disability and social inclusion. It has a leading role in developing new ideas about digital culture and is finding new ways to write histories.

“The department works extremely hard to push the boundaries of its subject area, and has put particular efforts into research that make museums central to learning and social inclusion. This is fantastic news for the University, too, which has nurtured and supported this field for more than 40 years.”

Leicester’s success comes in a year when the University is celebrating several outstanding achievements.

In October 2008 the University was named University of the Year 2008-9 by the Times Higher Education at their annual awards. The judges cited Leicester’s ability to “evidence commitment to high quality, a belief in the synergy of teaching and research and a conviction that higher education is a power for good”.

The University is ranked 12th in the UK (out of 120 institutions) by the Independent’s Good University Guide. The Guide describes Leicester as a “first class university”. Leicester is ranked 14th by the Guardian University Guide and Times University Guide.

Professor Postlethwaite added: “The Research Assessment Exercise is a landmark event for research-intensive universities for two reasons. Firstly, it is the means by which millions of pounds are annually distributed on an increasingly selective basis, largely to those institutions where world-class research work is done. Secondly, it produces information that can be used to tell prospective students, employers, policy-makers and other interested parties in the UK and around the world which British universities are the best research institutions.”

Commenting on the publication of the RAE results, Professor Steve Smith, Chair of the 1994 Group on which the University of Leicester is a member, said:

‘The results of the RAE published today recognise the outstanding achievements of faculty members at 1994 Group institutions in the delivery of world leading research across all fields of academic study.

The continued excellence of the research elite institutions in the 1994 and Russell Groups demonstrates that the government was right to increase funding for research excellence after the last RAE in 2001.

The UK is a world leader in research, but that position is constantly under threat from other countries. We need to push forward from here and increase the impact and relevance of our work. This can only be achieved if funding for basic research continues to be directed towards excellence wherever it is found; and not just to those institutions with the greatest capacity.

For the last year 1994 Group universities have been focused on what comes after the RAE: the Research Excellence Framework. We have been moving rapidly to adapt our strategies. New investments have been agreed and new appointments made to ensure that the success revealed today is not only maintained but bettered.'

ABOUT THE RAE:

Research quality is assessed every few years through the RAE to allocate research funding, and to provide information on the quality of research in the UK. Between the 2002-3 and 2008-9 academic years £10.1 billion will have been allocated to UK HEIs based on the 2001 RAE. The seven Research Councils provide funding for specific programmes and projects but they do not make direct use of the RAE. The four higher education funding bodies intend to use the quality profiles to determine their grant for research to the institutions which they fund with effect from 2009-10

This is the last RAE, from next year the Research Excellence Framework will gradually be introduced, and it is expected that 2013 will be the first year the REF will have an impact on funding..

The RAE collates information about:

• Research active staff

• Research outputs (usually 4 per member of staff produced 01.01.2001 – 31.12.2007)

• Quantity of research studentships and students

• Number of PhD degrees awarded

• External research income

• Research structure and strategies and

• Indicators of esteem.

In a change to the 2001 results, this year quality profiles will be produced for each Unit of Assessment (UoA), which may or may not directly relate to University departments or schools. This scale is also different to previous RAEs, please see below table.

4* Quality that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour

3* Quality that is internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour but which nonetheless falls short of the highest standards of excellence.

2* Quality that is recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour

1* Quality that is recognised nationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour

u/c Quality that falls below the standard of nationally recognised work.

Some key facts

o 159 higher education institutions submitted to the 2008 RAE

o 52,409 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff were submitted (12% rise in staff over 2001)

o Over 200,000 pieces of research work (outputs) were submitted.

o 2,363 submissions were made (decreased by 9% from 2001).

o There were 15 main panels, 67 sub-panels, comprising over 1,000 panel members

o Over £1.5 billion will be allocated each year from 2009-10 using the RAE results.

o 2008 will be the 6th RAE. The first took place in 1986. Since then there have been RAEs in 1989, 1992, 1996 and 2001.

o 2008 will be the last RAE. In the future, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) will be introduced to replace the RAE.