REF 2021: SSEES ranks third in UK for research power amongst Area Studies

REF 2021 is the second assessment carried out under the Research Excellence Framework (REF), with the first one issued in 2014. UCL has come second in the UK for research power, with SSEES coming third in research power among Area Studies units. 

Our research received a GPA (Grade Point Average) of 3.44 (out of 4), a significant improvement from REF 2014 (3.03). 

50% of SSEES research was graded 4* ‘world leading’ (up  from 24.3% in 2014) and 34.5 % 3* ‘internationally excellent (up from 25.7%).

The REF is carried out approximately every six to seven years to assess the quality of research across 157 UK universities and to share how this research benefits society both in the UK and globally.

UCL submitted evidence of a breadth of research activities, which included 4 impact case studies from the School addressing areas such as informal practices, innovation and technology processes, queer migration and public policy towards Russia and Ukraine. 

• SSEES REF 2021
• REF 2021 SSEES Impact Case Studies Videos (YouTube)

A total of 3,432 UCL academics were submitted in 32 disciplinary groups to this REF process. 51 academics at SSEES contributed submissions.

Professor Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski, Head of Research at UCL SSEES, commented: 'SSEES has significantly improved on its strong performance last time. No less than half of the publications submitted were given four stars, that's world-leading research in originality, significance and rigour.'

UCL will be celebrating the impact of its REF research over the next few weeks through the ‘Where research transforms lives’ campaign – a series of podcasts and case studies. Find out more at www.ucl.ac.uk/ref.

• SSEES REF 2021
• UCL REF Hub
• Arts and Humanities REF 2021