Our department has been ranked equal 4th among Classics departments for world-leading (4*) research, according to the results of the REF2014 (Research Excellence Framework), the national assessment of UK university research - this ranks us equal 2nd among UK Classics departments outside Oxbridge.
This is our highest ever ranking and a tribute to the quality of our academic staff. All 14 departmental research and teaching staff were included in the assessment.
The department ranked highly on all three main criteria of assessment:
- Outputs (i.e. our publications): 38.9% of our publications were ranked as ‘world-leading’ (the highest of any Classics department, ahead of Oxford and Cambridge!) and a further 33.3% as internationally excellent.
- Impact outside the academic world: 40% of our external activities were ranked as world-leading and the remaining 60% as internationally excellent.
- Research Environment: 30% was scored as world-leading and a further 60% as internationally excellent.
Further ranking methods produced equally impressive results:
- by the medal ranking system, which uses the same method as the Olympic medal table, we are 5th in the UK
- by GPA (average of all results), we are 7th
- for research power, which takes into account the size of the department, we are 9th.
You could say we are punching above our weight, but we are also now the 9th largest Classics department in the UK by FTE of staff returned for the REF.
Our Head of Department, Dr Helen Lovatt commented: “We’re delighted that our research and its wider impact have been ranked so highly by the leading academics and practitioners on the REF panel. We use our research every day in our teaching and are thrilled we are now officially recognised as one of the top UK departments.”
Posted on Friday 19th December 2014