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PAIS SUCCESS IN RESEARCH EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK 2014

ref-2014

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 (4th), research power (4th), and overall or ‘raw’ GPA (6th), 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 6th from 7th 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 4th largest submission in Politics and International Studies in REF 2014.
  • PAIS ranked 1st for research environment in the UK, with a maximum score of 100% 4*.
  • PAIS was ranked 6th 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 7th in all media league tables and will rise further in line with the REF 2014 results.