News

UK Research Excellence Framework 2021 results published

Date

The Department is proud to announce that Oxford’s submission to the Politics and International Studies Unit of Assessment has achieved excellent scores in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise.

The 2021 REF results, published today, show that 53% of the Oxford submission to the Politics and International Studies Unit of Assessment was judged to be 4* (the highest score available, for research quality that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance, and rigour).

DPIR - along with other departments and colleges working in the subject at Oxford – made the University’s submission the second largest volume of world-leading research for the Politics and International Studies unit of assessment.  This means that Oxford’s volume of 4* research is highly significant in both size and quality.

The proportion of Oxford’s research outputs judged to be world-leading has also risen significantly since the last REF exercise in 2014.

Furthermore, the large, diverse and vibrant subject community in Politics and International Studies at Oxford was awarded the maximum 100% 4* environment score, for its “vitality and sustainability”.

Our 9 impact case studies reflected the contribution of our research across the international community, governments, NGOs, the private sector, and civil society. They were all judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent.

Joint Heads of Department Petra Schleiter and Nicholas Owen comment: “We are delighted that our REF scores have built on the previous excellent track-record of Politics and International Relations research at Oxford.

“Congratulations and thanks to everyone in DPIR, and elsewhere in the University, for your contribution to this excellent result for Oxford. We also wish to thank our many research collaborators, in the UK and worldwide, for their contribution.

“Our result shows that Oxford is a great place for research in Politics and International Studies, in the research environment we have created, in the quality and volume of our publications, and in the impact of our research in academia and beyond.”

The REF is a system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions and is undertaken by the four UK higher education funding bodies. For further information, please visit www.ref.ac.uk.

Further information about the University of Oxford’s overall performance in the REF can be found on the Oxford website.

 

“Our result shows that Oxford is a great place for research in Politics and International Studies, in the research environment we have created, in the quality and volume of our publications, and in the impact of our research in academia and beyond.”
Joint Heads of Department, Petra Schleiter and Nicholas Owen

REF 2021 research excellence framework