SCHOOL NEWS
School of Ocean Sciences leads UK Oceans Research
Every 6 to 7 years the UK Government assesses the quality of the research coming out of the UK’s universities, through a peer review process called the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The most recent results, for the period 2014-21 were published in May 2022, have shown the School of Ocean Sciences to be in the top two Ocean Science departments in the UK in terms of research quality (we finished top for research power and second for the grade point average metrics). The REF panel judged 43% of our scientific papers to be world leading, with 95% classified as world leading or internationally excellent. It also judged the research environment within the school as being one of the best in the UK, comparable to that found at Oxford and Durham Universities. These results highlight not only that our students are being taught by experts who are pushing back the frontiers of science, but also that they are learning within a top ranked research environment. The REF panel also placed the impact of environmental research at Bangor to be top of the 39 Universities who were assessed under the “Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences” unit of assessment. Impact is a measure of how our research is impacting on society, such as our work in tracking COVID spread through waste water. REF2021 Ranking for impact of research beyond academia for Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. In REF terms impact is defined as an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.
Overall, Bangor University established itself as number 2 in Wales for research quality, after Cardiff University. Welcoming the results Vice-Chancellor Iwan Davies said: “These results put Bangor University at the forefront of developing significant responses to the challenges of the world we live in, namely sustainability, low carbon, preventative health, promoting technology and innovation, and culture and the arts. It is at the edge of disciplines where researchers achieve real innovation and Bangor’s interdisciplinary globally significant research is demonstrating real-world impact. Our ranking of second overall in Wales clearly demonstrates our commitment to supporting a quadruple helix of research, industry expertise, government and civic engagement benefiting the economy and society in North Wales and beyond.”
