Lancaster University in top band of UK universities

Lancaster University has emerged in the top band of UK Universities with a high proportion of its research rated ‘world leading’ in the latest Research Assessment Exercise.

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

• 19% of Lancaster’s research is ‘world leading’ .
  
• Over 60% of Lancaster’s research is recognised as being of an internationally excellent standard. This places Lancaster in the top 13% of UK universities in terms of world leading and internationally excellent research.
  
• Overall, 92% of research at Lancaster is recognised as being of an international standard and all units of assessment included world leading research.
  
• 13 departments are in the top 20 of UK institutions for their individual disciplines. This equates to 73% of staff.

Lancaster is ranked joint 15th out of 147 UK institutions for the amount of research judged to be of world leading importance.

Key areas of research which are ranked top in the UK include:

• Physics ranked 1st in the country.
  
• LICA’s score 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 leading or internationally excellent.
  
• 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).
  
• Three quarters of Lancaster University Management School’s research activity is world leading or internationally excellent and 95% is of international standing.
  
• Sociology is ranked 5th in the UK.
  
• Computing has 100% of research considered to be of international quality.
  
• Linguistics has the 2nd highest number of staff classified as world leading or internationally excellent, in the UK.
  
• LEC is in the top 6 for the number of world leading and internationally excellent staff.

Overall Lancaster submitted 90% of staff as ‘research active’ - considerably above the national norm. Over the past 6 years Lancaster’s research income has grown by 68%. Academic staff numbers have grown by over 30% since the last RAE.

Lancaster is one of only 29 UK universities ranked in the top 200 universities worldwide, coming in at number 170 in the annual THE-QS world university rankings and is currently ranked top University in the North West in the Independent, Guardian, Times and Sunday Times league tables . Lancaster University is the top ranked university in the North West and the joint top ranked University in the whole North of England, according to the 2008 National Student Survey. The Guardian University Guide 2009 places it 12th out of 149 institutions in the UK.