World leading research reaches new heights at LJMU

18 December 2014: Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has achieved world-leading status in the latest assessment of university research, with the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences 0.01% off the top position in the UK.

The results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), announced today, demonstrate the world-leading quality of research conducted in UK universities. For the first time in an exercise of this kind, the REF also highlights the wide-ranging and significant benefits that UK research brings to the economy and society.

The School of Sport and Exercise Sciences was ranked world-leading and second in the UK for its research into a number of areas; from tackling unhealthy lifestyles and obesity in children by adapting play areas and schools, working with Premiership football clubs, locally and across the country for performance analysis and injury prevention strategies, through to cardiac screening and cardiovascular health of athletes.

In addition to doubling the amount of research rated as world-leading in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, LJMU has more than doubled the volume of activity rated internationally excellent or above.  Every Unit of Assessment (UoA) submitted by the University was rated as at least 45% internationally excellent or better.

Other areas of particular excellence included Astrophysics for the impact of the National Schools’ Observatory on supporting the learning of UK school children, and English for the impact of writing in prisons and research into the history of everyday life.

The University is now in the top half of the overall research league table, placed 61 out of 128 universities who submitted more than one UoA in the proportion of research that is world-leading or internationally excellent and is second only to Cardiff in its peer group, the University Alliance, making it the best in England for research under this group of global leading universities.

LJMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Nigel Weatherill said:

“Liverpool John Moores University is a University proud of its heritage and values. It is an international beacon for excellence in education providing exceptional student experiences with life-changing opportunities for its students and staff. The outcomes of this independent assessment of research undertaken across the UK by the government demonstrates that LJMU is conducting internationally recognised and world leading research in a diverse set of disciplines and is one of the leading institutions redefining the role of a university in the 21st Century.  Our research and scholarship motivates and inspires our students and staff and, in additional to adding to the base of knowledge, supports businesses and contributes to wealth creation for the City of Liverpool and nationally. “

LJMU’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Scholarship, Research and Knowledge Transfer Professor Robin Leatherbarrow said:

“The result for the University is exceptional. LJMU is fast realising our ambition to become the leading modern civic university in the UK, with research and scholarship fully embedded within our activities, informing our curriculum and having a direct impact upon the student experience.  These results will now enable us to build our reputation based on evidence and performance and to state with confidence that our students not only have the highest quality teaching but that their learning experience is informed by relevant, credible and world-leading research.”

Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 key LJMU results

• LJMU demonstrates World-leading research in 77% of submitted disciplines (ie. 13 out of 17 UoAs have 4* research)
• On the basis of the proportion of World-leading and internationally excellent (4*+3*) research, LJMU is ranked 61st of the 128 UK universities that submitted more than a single UoA
• LJMU research impact is rated as internationally excellent in all subject areas
• All 17 UoAs have internationally excellent research and 96% of LJMU research submitted to REF 2014 is of international quality or better
• LJMU has almost doubled the proportion of activity rated internationally excellent or above (34% in RAE2008 to 66% in REF2014)
• 72% of the institution’s research impact activity is rated as internationally excellent or world-leading
• Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism achieved 97% of research activity 3* & 4* overall
• The University more than doubled the volume of 4* (world-leading) activity (from 8% in RAE2008 to 18% in REF2014) .

To read the LJMU case studies related to the research, please visit  http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/Research/128646.htm

Notes to Editors:

The results are produced as ‘overall quality profiles’ which show the proportions of submitted activity judged to have met each quality level from 4* to unclassified.

The quality levels are:

4* World-leading

3* Internationally excellent

2* Recognised internationally

1* Recognised nationally

U   Unclassified

The overall quality profile awarded to each submission is derived from three elements that were assessed:

1. The quality of research outputs. This contributes 65 per cent of the overall quality profile. The panels reviewed 191,150 submitted research outputs.
2. The social, economic and cultural impact of research. This contributes 20 per cent of the overall quality profile. This is a new feature in the assessment framework. The panels reviewed 6,975 submitted impact case studies.
3. The research environment. This contributes 15 per cent of the overall quality profile.
4. The REF was undertaken by the four higher education funding bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. REF 2014 was managed by a team based at HEFCE on behalf of the funding bodies.
5. The REF replaces the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), last conducted in 2008.
6. The results of the REF are available at www.ref.ac.uk from 0001 on Thursday 18 December 2014.
7. Any higher education institution (HEI) in the UK that is eligible to receive research funding from one of the funding bodies was invited to participate in the exercise.
8. The REF is a discipline-based expert review process. 36 expert sub-panels, working under the guidance of 4 main panels, reviewed the submissions and made judgements on their quality. The panels comprised 898 academics and 259 users of research.
9. 154 HEIs participated, making a total of 1,911 submissions to the 36 panels. Institutions’ submissions ranged from 3 staff submitted to a single panel, to over 2,500 staff submitted to 32 panels.
10. In the 2008 RAE, the quality of research outputs was assessed in a similar way to the 2014 REF assessment. Impact was not assessed in the 2008 RAE, and the research environment was assessed in a different format against different criteria. Therefore, only the outputs element is directly comparable between the two exercises.
11. For further information, see www.ref.ac.uk.

Clare Coombes, Press and Publications Officer, Liverpool John Moores University, T: 0151 231 3004 press@ljmu.ac.uk