PAIS has performed brilliantly in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.

PAIS is now one of the top 5 ranking departments in the UK for research excellence in the discipline of Politics and International Studies.

PAIS has risen across all the three major methodologies of ranking departmental quality—research intensity (4^th), research power (4^th), and overall or ‘raw’ GPA (6^th), as shown by the tables below.

As the UK Political Studies Association analysis of the results posits:

“In general, the ‘big five’ departments at Essex, the LSE, Oxford, UCL and Warwick come out top from REF2014, whatever ranking system is used.”

 REF 2014 Politics and International Studies: ‘Research Intensity’ (GPA x proportion of eligible FTE submitted)

Institution	GPA	FTE submitted	FTE proportion submitted	GPA intensity	Rank
Essex	3.54	29.95	93.59	3.31	1
UCL	3.28	30.00	100.00	3.28	2
Oxford	3.31	76.65	87.03	3.21	3
Warwick	3.19	48.54	95.18	3.04	4
Queen’s	2.80	32.40	101.25	2.84	5
LSE	3.45	62.25	81.91	2.83	6

 

REF 2014 Politics and International Studies: ‘Research Power’ (GPA x total number of FTE submitted)

Institution	GPA	FTE submitted	Research power	Rank
King’s	2.99	98	294	1
Oxford	3.31	77	254	2
LSE	3.45	62	215	3
Warwick	3.19	49	155	4
Birmingham	2.78	47	131	5

 

For raw GPA, un-weighted by the proportion of staff submitted, PAIS has risen to 6^th from 7^th in RAE 2008

REF 2014 Politics and International Studies: ‘Raw GPA’

Institution	FTE	As%	4*	3*	2*	1*	U/C	GPA	Rank
Essex	29.95	93.59	68	19	12	1	0	3.54	1
LSE	62.25	81.91	54	38	7	1	0	3.45	2
Sheffield	18.00	75.00	52	37	10	1	0	3.40	3
Oxford	76.65	97.03	54	27	15	4	0	3.31	4
UCL	30.00	100.00	41	48	10	0	1	3.28	5
Warwick	48.54	95.18	43	37	16	4	0	3.19	6
Aberystwyth	27.20	73.51	44	32	22	2	0	3.18	7
York	23.00	71.88	37	43	19	1	0	3.16	8
Exeter	24.20	62.05	30	54	15	1	0	3.13	9
Edinburgh	34.05	89.61	38	35	23	4	0	3.07	10

 

Other PAIS research highlights from REF 2014 include:

• 4* research classified as ‘world leading’ has doubled as a proportion of our total research activity to 43% from 20% in 2008.
• 80% of PAIS’s research is classified as 4* and 3*.
• PAIS increased its total submission of eligible staff by 50%, from 31 in 2008 to 49 in 2014, and increased the proportion of eligible staff submitted from 89% in 2008 to 95% in 2014.
• PAIS made the 4^th largest submission in Politics and International Studies in REF 2014.
• PAIS ranked 1^st for research environment in the UK, with a maximum score of 100% 4*.
• PAIS was ranked 6^th in research impact in the elite Russell Group of UK universities, with 94% of our impact work ranked 4*/3*.

If the performance of departments is compared across the three main rankings, as in the table below, then PAIS can be seen to be the most consistent performer in research excellence in the UK with the exception of Oxford.

‘Table of tables’: Raw GPA, research intensity GPA, research power rankings compared

Raw GPA	Research intensity GPA	Research Power	Rank
Essex	Essex	King’s	1
LSE	UCL	Oxford	2
Sheffield	Oxford	LSE	3
Oxford	Warwick	Warwick	4
UCL	Queen’s	Birmingham	5
Warwick	LSE	Manchester	6
Aberystwyth	Strathclyde	Essex	7
York	Edinburgh	Edinburgh	8
Exeter	Reading	UCL	9
Edinburgh	Royal Holloway	St Andrew’s	10
Strathclyde	Bristol	Nottingham	11
Sussex	Brunel	Queen’s	12
Cardiff	Glasgow	Cambridge	13
Cambridge	St. Andrew’s	Aberystwyth	14
King’s	Nottingham	Kent	15
Southampton	Sheffield	Exeter	16
Birkbeck	Robert Gordon	York	17
St Andrew’s	Southampton	SOAS	18
Manchester	Cambridge	Leeds/Bristol	19
Reading	Queen Mary		20
Durham	Sussex	Glasgow	21
SOAS	Kent	Royal Holloway	22
Leeds	Goldsmiths	Brunel	23
Queen Mary	Aberystwyth	Sussex	24
UEA	Birmingham	Sheffield/Queen Mary	25
Glasgow	City	Strathclyde	26
Royal Holloway	Ulster	Newcastle	27
Queen’s	East Anglia	Reading	28
Brunel	York	Leicester	29
Nottingham	SOAS	Hull	30
Birmingham	Leicester	Southampton	31
Kent	Manchester	Cardiff	32
Bradford	Newcastle	Coventry/Westminster/ Keele/Birkbeck	33
Bristol	Birkbeck		34
Westminster	Aberdeen		35

The REF results confirm our position as one of the top ranking comprehensive research and teaching departments in the UK. PAIS already ranks 7^th in all media league tables and will rise further in line with the REF 2014 results.