I am delighted to report that the School of Arts achieved some outstanding results in RAE 2008, confirming its mission to produce research of international significance.
More than 83% of the School’s outputs were judged to be of international quality and significance, while nearly 50% of the School’s research outputs were ranked in the top two categories, indicating work that is ‘world-leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’.
The departments of Welsh, English and German are particularly to be congratulated, with between 50% and 65% of their work rated in the top two categories. Welsh achieved 20% of its work rated at 4*, ahead of Cardiff and Bangor, and was ranked 5th out of 13 institutions which submitted to this unit of assessment (according to the Research Fortnight league tables). Relative to size, German was ranked 11th out of 29 institutions, ahead of a number of Russell Group universities, and English was ranked 33rd out of 97 institutions, second only to Cardiff among the Welsh universities.
Elsewhere in the School, the departments of Spanish and Media both achieved 10% of work assessed at 4*, while French and Italian had 80-85% of their work assessed as being of international quality.
These excellent results confirm the strong research culture of the School of Arts, its pursuit of international excellence, and its competitive position relative to other major universities in the UK. With a raft of new publications and research grants already appearing in 2008 and 2009, we are committed to strengthening our research performance and continuing to provide a high-quality research environment for our staff and students.