The UK Funding Bodies have published the outcomes of the recent national research assessment exercise, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.
Research in the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry, and the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences was returned in REF 2021 Unit of Assessment 4 (Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience). These departments represent a large part of the Oxford Neuroscience community at the University of Oxford.
Professor Paul Harrison, Chair of the University of Oxford Neuroscience Committee, said:
'I am delighted with our performance in REF 2021 Unit of Assessment 4 (Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience), and pay tribute to all our researchers, and other staff, whose sustained efforts and excellence over the past seven years made it possible.
'69% of our overall REF submission was rated as world-leading (4*). Notably, this included 100% of our research environment, reflecting the success of our scientific strategy, our support for our researchers, our infrastructure, and our collaborations and contributions to the field. This environment enabled us to carry out research of substantial impact (90% rated as 4*) and high quality (53% of outputs rated as 4*).
'We are committed to maintaining our efforts and enhancing our achievements in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience. We already have exciting developments underway in terms of recruitment, investment and infrastructure, as well as strengthening our approaches to equality and diversity, access, and reproducibility.'
The University of Oxford made the largest submission of any Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the UK, submitting over 3,600 researchers (3,405 full-time equivalents) into 29 subject areas, over 8,500 research outputs in a range of formats from journal articles to compositions, and 220 case studies about the impact of Oxford research beyond academia.
Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Oxford, said:
'The REF 2021 results demonstrate once again that Oxford is a research powerhouse, and the impact case studies highlight our effectiveness in putting this research in service to society by making critical contributions to global health, economic prosperity and cultural life.
'The REF is one of the few opportunities to see the remarkable breadth of our research and to draw together all parts of the collegiate University in a single collaborative effort, and I would like to thank everyone involved for their contribution.'
*Largest volume of world-leading research is calculated from the sum of (overall %4* x submitted FTE) across all submissions.
Read the full story on the central University of Oxford website.