Submitted by Stan Finney on Fri, 19/12/2014 - 16:45
In the 2014 REF results, over half of Cambridge Architecture’s research work was rated as World Leading, with 88% World Leading or Internationally Excellent.
We are delighted with the results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF). For Unit of Assessment (UoA )16: Architecture, Built Environment and Planning, Cambridge had a joint submission from the Departments of Architecture and Land Economy.
Overall 50% of our overall combined research was rated as “World Leading” (4*) and a further 38% as “Internationally Excellent” (3*). The 50% figure for 4* puts us equal first with the University of Bath; based on combined proportion of 88% at 4* and 3*, we rank 3rd out of 45 submissions to the panel.
In terms of research outputs, 38% were rated 4* and 44% were 3*, so that is 82% of publications rated as “World Leading” or “Internationally Excellent”. We submitted a number of impact case studies: 68% were rated 4* and 32% 3*. The overall research environment was similarly highly rated (75% 4*, 25% 3*).
One metric that is used extensively is the “GPA” which provides a weighted average of the research scores. Our overall REF GPA is 3.35 (slightly above the University of Cambridge average) which ranks us 3rd behind the Universities of Bath and Glasgow. However, if the GPA is adjusted for FTE staff, we move up to second behind Bath.
Overall then, this is an excellent result, given the much larger size and scope of the UoA and the significant advantage that larger departments have in scoring for Environment and Impact. The key message is our impressive proportion of high ranked research work.