The University of Dundee has been named one of the UK’s leading research centres for biological sciences, according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
84% of the uni’s research in the field was ranked as “world leading” or “internationally excellent”, making it the top performer in the UK.
The REF is the major assessment of research performance across the UK higher education sector.
Professor John Rowan, Vice-Principal of Research, Knowledge Exchange and Wider Impact, said, “This is an outstanding performance by our School of Life Sciences and again confirms our status as an international powerhouse for biological sciences research.
“This will support our efforts to build on Dundee’s successes in research excellence, commercialisation and the positive impact of this work on health and the economy.
“We are developing drug candidates to tackle major global diseases such as malaria, and are leading in understanding more about diseases such as Parkinson’s and cancer.”
In the city of discovery, there are also strong performances across other subject areas at the university.
Clinical medicines and allied health professions, a joint submission between dentistry and health sciences, received praise from the REF.
The university says that this underlines its capacity to deliver research outputs and impact that “transforms lives locally and globally.”
By scrutinising public investment, the REF seeks to identify the benefits of this investment across a university’s research practices.
The 2021 instalment was delayed due to the pandemic.
157 UK universities took part, submitting over 76,000 academic staff, before being judged a series of experts based both in the UK and internationally.”
Professor Rowan continued: “REF is carried out every five-to-seven years and to see how we have maintained a very prominent position in biological sciences and our clinical-related research is hugely encouraging in what is a very competitive climate across the UK.
“Our School of Art & Design is the highest graded art school in Scotland and we also see encouraging strengthening in our School of Business, which has made tremendous strides in recent years also in terms of student recruitment, being one of the fastest growing in the UK.”
