RAE 2008 results

18 December 2008

Getting the submission ready was a huge undertaking, involving hundreds of staff across the University. LJMU submitted research in 17 of the RAE's 67 subject 'Units of Assessment' or UOAs, and 70% of these were judged to demonstrate elements of world-class research activity.

This research ranges from well established areas of activity, such as sport and exercise sciences, general engineering and astrophysics to more emerging areas of excellence, such as anthropology, nursing and midwifery, and architecture and the built environment.

Around 34% of all the LJMU research submitted has been assessed as either being world-class (4*) or internationally excellent (3*). Over 75% of LJMU research was assessed at 2* or above (denoting research of international quality).

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Brown said:

"This has been a tremendous team effort and it is a tribute to everyone involved that we have done so well. The RAE remains the single most important measure of research performance for the higher education sector. It was vital that we performed well as the results will be used to determine the additional research funding we receive next year."

Rather than publishing single point ratings for each subject submission, the 2008 results take the form of quality profiles, showing the breadth of research quality for each area. This means that it is not possible to make a direct comparison with the RAE 2001 results.

All of the work submitted was assessed by independent panels of experts, drawn from HEIs and the wider research community. These experts judged the work according to research outputs, research environment and indicators of esteem, rating the work according to the following new quality levels:

• 4* world-leading research in terms of originality, significance and rigour
• 3* research that is internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour but which falls short of the highest standards of excellence
• 2* research recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour
• 1* research recognised nationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour
• Unclassified

LJMU's Director of Research, Professor Andy Young said:

"I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work in preparing the 2008 RAE submission. We took a strategic decision to play to our institutional strengths, only submitting research that met the highest levels of national and international excellence. But given that the bar has been raised considerably since the last RAE in 2001, there was no guarantee that we would do well. That's what makes some of the results even more pleasing. They clearly indicate that there is excellent research to be found across LJMU."