Bristol’s Faculty of Science has been shown to lead the UK in the most recent national research assessment exercise, REF2021 across its five Units of Assessment (UOAs) according to the Times Higher Education analysis: 

UOA 7, School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Science, 2nd in the UK 

UOA 8, School of Chemistry, 1st in the UK 

UOA 9, School of Physics, 5th in the UK 

UOA 10, School of Mathematics. 4th in the UK 

UOA 14, School of Geographical Sciences and Environmental Studies, 1st in the UK 

“It is a testament to all our staff, researchers and students in the Faculty of Science that the University of Bristol is the only institution to have all these subjects in the top 5 of their respective REF2021 subject areas. This speaks to the extremely high quality of our research and the environment in which we conduct it, as well as the demonstrable impact it has on our society and the world we live in.”   Professor Jens Marklof, Dean of the Faculty of Science. 

Examples of some of the research impact case studies we submitted to REF2021, from the Faculty of Science, can be found on our Faculty Research page. 

Overall, the University of Bristol is ranked fifth for research in the UK, with a remarkable 94% of its research assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.  Find out more about the University’s REF 2021 results.