20 July 2009
The Faculty performed very strongly in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Those departments who did exceptionally well include Geography (the School of Geographical Sciences is a joint member of both FSSL and the Faculty of Science) which was equal first with Cambridge in the Times Higher ranking, Sports-related Studies (3rd in the Times Higher), Accounting and Finance (4th in the Times Higher), Education (5th in the Times Higher), Economics (6th in the Times Higher) and Social Work and Social Policy (14th in the Times Higher). 56% of all research submitted by the Faculty was assessed as being of 4* (world-leading) or 3*, ‘internationally excellent’ quality, and 87.5% was considered to be of international standard. Submission rates were notably high with 90% of eligible staff included in the exercise. The Faculty’s Research Director, Professor Wendy Larner, said ‘This is an outstanding outcome for the Faculty and a tribute to all the hard work undertaken by our academics, department research directors and research administrators’.