REF 2021 results
Over 70% of published research carried out at the University of Sunderland has been rated as either world-leading or internationally excellent in the 2021 REF results.
The University has doubled the proportion of world-leading or internationally excellent research since the REF was last held in 2014. The percentage of 4* world-leading research in terms of originality, significance, and rigour is up from 5% to 18%, and the percentage of 3* internationally excellent research is up from 23% to 44%.
Sunderland’s Grade Point Average (GPA) – the aggregated ‘score’ for the overall quality of research – also shows a significant improvement since 2014, from 2.12 to 2.75. As a result, the University’s GPA ranking position has improved by 30 places. Areas of particular strength highlighted in the REF were arts and creative subjects, engineering, health sciences, social work, and English.
The results also reflected the impact of the University’s research on individuals, businesses, and public and charitable sector organisations across the region and well beyond.
Research, innovation, and knowledge exchange (KE) are central to the University of Sunderland’s work, from research-informed teaching to collaborations that promote the city and region within the UK and internationally.
Our 2021 submission
Our submission to REF 2021 was made on 30 March 2021, with just over 100 researchers from Sunderland entered in the REF across a wide range of subject areas. We developed a Code of Practice on the fair and transparent identification of staff and outputs for submission to the 2021 REF. The outcome will be used to inform funding from the 2022-2023 academic year.
A submission is made containing three distinct elements:
- The quality of research outputs, such as books, journal articles, conference proceedings, and datasets
- The strength of the impact of research – the difference research makes beyond the University
- The quality of the research environment – policies in place to support staff and doctoral students, facilities and resources, and the contribution of academic staff to their discipline.
Submissions were made to the following Units of Assessment:
- 3 – Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing, and Pharmacy
- 11 – Computer Science and Informatics
- 12 – Engineering
- 20 – Social Work and Social Policy
- 23 – Education
- 24 – Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism
- 27 – English Language and Literature
- 32 – Art and Design: History, Practice, and Theory
- 34 – Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management.
What is the REF?
The REF is the UK’s system for assessing the quality of research in Higher Education institutions, which takes place every six years or so.
REF 2021 is considered by the UK's funding bodies for Higher Education to have the following purposes:
- To provide accountability for public investment in research and produce evidence of the benefits of this investment
- To provide benchmarking information and establish reputational yardsticks for use within the HE sector and for public information
- To inform the selective allocation of funding for research
- To provide a rich evidence base to inform strategic decisions about national research priorities
- To create a strong performance incentive for HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) and individual researchers
- To inform decisions of resource allocation by individual institutions.
The REF assesses 34 subject-based units of assessment (UoAs) which are split into four main panels.
The submissions are assessed through peer-review by expert panels that are made up of senior academics in relevant fields, international members, and research users who are made up of people outside of academia in the private, public, and third sectors.
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.
Contact us
To find out more, get in touch at REF@sunderland.ac.uk.