Universities in line for share of £1.5bn
Dec 18 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal
NORTH East universities were last night looking forward to a payout worth millions of pounds after new national rankings for top-class research were released.
Durham and Newcastle universities, both in the country’s top 30, are set for the biggest slice of a £1.5bn funding pot which will be allocated to universities between 2009 and 2010.
Durham led the North East after being ranked 17th by the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), while Newcastle finished in 26th place. Evidence considered for the RAE, which examined 67 subjects nationally, included the number of “research active” staff at an institution, the quality of research, research environment and tangible indicators of academic reputation.
Universities were ranked by a grade point average. Many of Durham’s departments, including applied maths, archaeology, and theology and religion were ranked among the best in the UK.
The university also performed strongly in comparison to other research intensive universities.
Vice-chancellor of Durham University, Prof Chris Higgins, said: “Durham prides itself on its strong tradition of research-led teaching, so our students can be very confident they are getting tuition directly from world-class leaders in their field.” The allocation of the £1.5bn does not take place until March next year. At Newcastle University, the top performing research subjects included cancer studies, civil engineering, and art and design. Last night, the vice-chancellor of Newcastle University, Prof Chris Brink, said: “I would like to thank all staff for their efforts and to congratulate those who have done well.”
Margaret Fay, chairman of the regional development agency One North East, said: “The North East has five outstanding universities which all help drive the growth and development of the regional economy. The results achieved by Newcastle University reflect the quality of its internationally-renowned research activity and academia. This success is a wider success for the North East and the university is rightly proud of the results it has achieved in this important study.”
The University of Northumbria finished in 79th place, while Sunderland was ranked in 101st and the University of Cumbria finished 126th.
Prof Andrew Wathey, vice-chancellor and chief executive of Northumbria, is looking ahead to extra cash from when the tables were last compiled. He said : “The Northumbria University RAE result is a real success, showing significant improvement on our performance in the 2001 RAE. It is an all-round success, with a boost in every area.”
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