The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 ranks Engineering research at Kent of high quality, with the majority of our research considered world-leading and internationally excellent.
The REF is an internationally recognised system for assessing the quality of research in UK Higher Education Institutions. For each submission, three distinct elements are assessed: the quality of outputs such as publications, their impact beyond academia, and the environment that supports research. Contributing to the School of Engineering‘s REF success was its high number of world class publications and the demonstrable impact it has made.
94% of Engineering’s research outputs were classified as either world leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*). 4* research outputs – the highest rating – have increased from 8.3 to 25.4, with the Grade Point Average (GPA) up from 2.8 to 3.15; an increase of +0.35.
The impact of Engineering research has been rated at 100%. Research Impact rated as 4* has increased from 26.7 to 33.3.
Engineering’s research environment also ranked at 100%, with a GPA of 3.
Head of the School of Engineering, Richard Guest said “The REF results clearly illustrate the strength of internationally leading research within the School of Engineering at the University of Kent. Particularly encouraging is that our research demonstrates that we’re making high levels of impact across society within multiple fields of Engineering. The results also demonstrate that we have the environment and expertise to enable world-class research to flourish.”