92% of research at Lancaster is of international quality

92% of research at Lancaster is of international quality




1st in UK for Physics

In the UK’s top 3 for Bio-medicine part of the newly established School of Health and Medicine (in the Allied Health Professions and Studies UoA)

In the UK’s top 3 for Art and Design (which at Lancaster includes Music, Theatre, Film and New Media in the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts)

90% of Lancaster’s academic staff are ‘research active’


Lancaster University’s mission to excel in research at the highest international level has been given a boost with the results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise revealing that 92% of its research is recognised as world leading or internationally significant and some key areas of research are ranked top in the UK.

Taking into account the high proportion of staff submitted to the RAE, Lancaster University emerges in the top ten in the country overall for research quality.

The RAE measures the quality of research conducted in universities and other higher education institutions in the UK against international standards of excellence.

Overall Lancaster submitted 90% of staff as ‘research active’ - considerably above the national norm.

Star subjects at Lancaster in include :

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Physics ranked 1st in the country
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LICA’s score – Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts places Art and Design, which at Lancaster includes Music, Theatre, Film and New Media, in the UK’s top 3. 80% of its research classed as world (4*) or internationally (3*) leading.
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Bio-medicine , part of Lancaster’s newly established School of Health and Medicine, is ranked in the top 3 in the UK (in the Allied Health Professions and Studies UoA) . LICA and Bio-medicine are ranked joint first in the UK when using a methodology which produces a consolidated score for any institution that made more than one submission within these units of assessment.
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Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) ranked joint 5th in the country
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Sociology is ranked 5th in the country
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Computing has 100% of research considered to be of international quality.

Over the past 6 years Lancaster’s research income has grown by 68%.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Trevor McMillan said that the results were a tribute to Lancaster’s talented academics and research teams, with all staff submitted to the RAE contributing to the now-recognised international research culture at Lancaster.

“Lancaster can go forward with strong confidence that its reputation for research excellence , which is remarkable given the university’s relatively small size , has been sustained. This external recognition for research excellence is made more significant when considering Lancaster’s strong teaching record, its popularity amongst students, and the major impact that the university is making in its knowledge transfer activities which benefit the regional economy.”

Lancaster is one of only 29 UK universities ranked in the top 200 universities worldwide, coming in at number 162 in the annual THE-QS world university rankings and is currently ranked top University in the North West in the all the national league tables . Lancaster University is the top ranked university in the North and in the top ten of comparable universities according to the 2009 National Student Survey.

The 2008 RAE outcomes are expressed differently than in the 2001 RAE. There is no longer a 1-5* rating scale. This has been replaced by a quality profile which identifies the proportion of activity reaching each of four defined 'starred' quality levels.

The RAE outcomes are used by the Funding Councils to distribute their block grant for research from 2009-10. The funding model using the 2008 RAE results will be announced in spring 2009.