Uni drops out of research top 10

The university has dropped from the top 10 to 22 in the research rankings

Cardiff University has fallen out of the UK top 10 for research, new figures show.

The university dropped to 22 after an assessment exercise which allocates research funds worth �1.5bn a year.

The marking system has changed since, and it also merged with the University of Wales College of Medicine in 2004.

The university said its position was "world leading" and its ranking was the same if the pre-merger rankings of the two bodies were taken into account.

The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was last conducted seven years ago.

It is seen as the definitive way to grade how well universities' research departments are doing.

The results will determine how much money institutions get for the five years starting in September 2009.

The exercise involves academics assessing the work of other academics. So the work of some 50,000 academics has been graded.

'Pockets of excellence'

In the past, the scores were straightforward, every department was given a single rating much like a hotel, with 5-star being the very best.

Cyber fiction and cyber fact - public attitudes to nano-science have been researched in Cardiff Case study from Cardiff University psychology department

But this time the scoring is more complicated. Instead of being given one score, departments are given a range of scores.

It means that what is known as "pockets of excellence" can be identified. Cardiff's ranking fell despite certain departments doing exceptionally well.

In a statement, the university said 33 out of 34 research areas it had submitted for assessment were shown to be "world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour".

It said the assessment had shown almost 60% of the university's research was in the top two categories, "world-leading or internationally excellent".

The university also boasts two Nobel Prize winners in its ranks - Sir Martin Evans, a professor of mammalian genetics, who is a leading stem cell researcher, and Professor Robert Huber, who won the prize for chemistry in 1988.

RESEARCH PROFILES Neuroscience, psychiatry and psychology - 25% of research world-leading grade 4* Civil engineering - 25% world leading Business - 35% world leading Journalism, media and communication - 45% world leading City and regional planning - 30% world leading Law - 25% world leading Assessment for some of the leading research departments at Cardiff University

In 2004, the campus merged with the University of Wales College of Medicine (UWCM).

The university argues that if the UWCM's place in previous rankings - it was placed 48th in 2001 - is taken into account, then the combined university's position today is the same.

It also said the assessment had shown the merger was "producing many research benefits".

Vice chancellor Dr David Grant said: "Our research has real and meaningful outcomes that improve and change the lives of people worldwide.

"This recognition of Cardiff's powerful research profile is good news not just for the university, but for Wales and our communities more widely as our world-leading research drives forward improvements in so many areas."

A spokesman added: "Institutional rankings are generally based on the average grade achieved - this would have placed a combined Cardiff University and University of Wales College of Medicine at 22nd in 2001, the same position such tables place us in 2008.

"Another ranking method is research power, which reflects both the quality of research and the number of staff submitted.

"This would have placed a combined Cardiff University and University of Wales College of Medicine 15th last time, the same position such tables place us in 2008."

Both Swansea and Aberystwyth have moved up around 10 places in the RAE ranking, with Aberystwyth's politics department doing better than Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

Bangor university said it was top in the UK research assessment for accounting and finance and second in electronic engineering.

Vice chancellor Prof Merfyn Jones said: "The results show that Bangor's research progress is growing year on year: that we have areas of real world excellence as well as all round strength."

More than 70% of the University of Glamorgan's research activity was assessed as being of a quality recognised internationally for its originality, significance and rigour with around 10% of this research recognised as world-leading.

Vice chancellor Prof David Halton said: "We are very pleased with the excellent results of the Research Assessment Exercise, which recognise the high standard of research that we undertake across a wide range of disciplines."

The ratings of the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (Uwic) and Lampeter University have slipped.

The full results of the RAE are released later on Thursday.

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