Strathclyde Business School rated top in Scotland, top 10 in UK: Research Excellence Framework
Strathclyde Business School has been rated first in Scotland and in the top 10 business schools in the UK for its research in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) which measures the quality and breadth of research (December 18).
The REF 2014 is a Government-led benchmarking exercise measuring the quality of research in higher education institutions and these latest results show Strathclyde Business School as being strong overall in its research but the REF also indicates the business school’s research is particularly robust in terms of Impact. SBS was rated 3rd in the UK for business schools for Impact, a measure of how the research has an impact on practise in business. The Business School also did exceptionally well in terms of the REF’s assessment of its research environment, rated as 1st amongst UK business schools for Environment.
Executive Dean Professor Susan Hart said, "We are delighted with the REF’s assessment of our research here at Strathclyde Business School. Being one of the top 10 business schools in the UK for research is all due to the excellent work done here by all of our staff at SBS, and we were particularly thrilled to see that the assessment of the impact of our research places us third in the UK.
"This underlines our collaborative ethos as a business school and our important role in Strathclyde's vision as a place of 'useful learning' – doing research that makes a real impact on the business world ensures that we’re a business school not only teaching useful learning but we’re a business school carrying out practical and useful research about, and for, business.
"As Dean, I’m immensely proud of what we have achieved together in this assessment of our research and it's thanks to the dedication of my colleagues, their talent and insights that we have achieved these excellent results."
The University as a whole has had some impressive results and the full story can be found here.
The 2014 REF was conducted jointly by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland (DEL). The REF was managed by the REF team, based at HEFCE, on behalf of the four UK higher education funding bodies, and was overseen by the REF Steering Group, consisting of representatives of the four funding bodies.
The four UK higher education funding bodies allocate about £2 billion per year of research funding to UK universities, based on the quality and volume of each university’s research. They aim to support a dynamic and internationally competitive UK research sector that makes a major contribution to economic prosperity, national wellbeing and the expansion and dissemination of knowledge.
To distribute funds selectively on the basis of quality, the funding bodies assess universities' research through a periodic exercise. This was previously known as the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), and was last conducted in 2008.
The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) replaced the RAE. It assessed the quality and impact of research submitted by UK universities across all disciplines. The results are used by the funding bodies to allocate block-grant research funding to universities from 2015-16.
As well as informing funding allocations, the REF provides accountability for public investment in research, demonstrates its benefits, and provides important reputational yardsticks and benchmarking information about the research performance of UK universities.
