90% of the research submission by the Department was judged to be either internationally excellent or world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour. Remarkably, the breakdown shows that 45% of the submission achieved the world-leading status; this far exceeds the result for any other submission in General Engineering and is not surpassed by any institution in any other engineering or scientific discipline.

The result represents not only the excellence of individuals comprising the Department’s 132-strong faculty, but also shows the power of uniting these academics in a single integrated department. They span a remarkably wide-range of engineering disciplines and, within this one department, can easily team-up to address the world’s most pressing challenges. Their expertise and capacity for research is augmented by 195 contract research staff and research fellows. 573 research students also play a key role in undertaking research, transferring research skills to industry and, for some of them, becoming the next generation of engineering academics. The scale and quality of the Department enables it to secure the best support staff and facilities. Scale and quality also make it easier for the Department to build long-term relationships with other academic disciplines, other institutions, companies and the entrepreneurial community. These connections for undertaking collaborative research are also vital for transferring outputs to have material benefits for society. All of these factors reinforce each other in a virtuous circle by attracting the best academics, students and collaborators.

The result of the Research Assessment Exercise is a tremendous endorsement of the Department’s staff and strategy, but ambitious plans and continual change are essential if the Department is to keep its world-leading position.

For more information on research collaborations please contact Philip Guildford