Research Excellence Framework 2021

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The Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) welcomes the publication of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework results.  The THE world university rankings table for the UK has also been recalculated on the basis of the 2021 REF and is published today.  For SICSA institutions:

  • 45% of research was world-leading (4*) and 43% internationally excellent (3*).
  • Over 90% of impact is judged outstanding or very considerable.
  • Overall SICSA departments were responsible for over 15% of high-quality research in the UK.
  • Over 70% of Scottish-based researchers entered in REF 2021 are working in Departments that have improved their THE ranking in a competitive and active discipline.

Stuart Anderson (SICSA Director) said:

“The REF 2021 results confirm the strength of Informatics and Computer Science in Scotland with a significant majority of researchers working in departments that have improved their overall ranking.  That SICSA departments contribute 15% of the high-quality research in the UK clearly demonstrates again that Scotland punches far above its weight in the discipline. Scotland has great strengths in this key area for our economy and society. 

This is a tremendous achievement on the part of the staff across all our Scottish departments, my congratulations to all involved in the continuing success of Informatics and Computer Science research in Scotland”.