Brighton research making a world-leading impact, major review finds

The university has been recognised for research of “world-leading quality” which has “outstanding impact” on people’s lives by the UK’s HE funding bodies.

The results of the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF) published Thursday 12 May 2022 show that the university’s researchers have produced research consistently rated as world leading.

In particular, the university has been recognised for producing research that brings significant benefits to the economy and society, with 88 per cent of its research rated as having outstanding or very considerable impact – the two highest ratings.

The results also underline the breadth of excellence across the university’s academic community, with research rated as world-leading in all ten units of assessment covering a hugely diverse range of subject areas.

Professor Rusi Jaspal, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange) at the University of Brighton, said:

“These results demonstrate the University of Brighton’s growing reputation for producing world-leading research that has a positive impact on people’s lives and the communities in which they live – here in Brighton, across the UK and around the world. It consolidates our position as one of the UK’s highest performing post-1992 universities and as leading the way among University Alliance institutions.

“I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the pivotal contribution of our ground-breaking research teams, outstanding professional staff and engaged and committed partners for their collective efforts to address some of the world’s most pressing issues.

“Brighton research is helping to reduce emissions and pollution, improve health and wellbeing, develop sustainable construction and design, advance inclusive art practice, promote peace in conflict-torn communities and tackle social injustice. Together, we are making advances and new discoveries that change lives and the world around us for the better.”

The REF is the biggest assessment of research excellence in the world. Over the past year, panels of academics, policy makers and industry experts have read and analysed over 185,000 research outputs and impact case studies produced by more than 76,000 UK academics.

The results are used to distribute around £2 billion of research funding every year to UK universities.

The university will now undertake a detailed analysis to identify areas of research that would benefit from further investment.

Find out more

A series of features and films have been produced that celebrate the benefits that Brighton research has locally, nationally and internationally.