REF 2021: A "truly remarkable result" for Art and English

Arts and Humanities research is hitting new heights of excellence at Liverpool John Moores University, according to a national audit of universities.

In English more than 50% of research is world leading and 86.2% is world-leading or internationally-excellent.

Art & Design research is almost 70% is either world leading or international excellent.

Professor Catherine Cole, Associate Dean of the Arts, Professional and Social Studies said the faculty was really thrilled about the results from the Research Excellence Framework 2021.

“We’ve really done well in the REF this time. All of our UoAs (subject areas) have improved and this is a much wider and collegial exercise than ever before.

“We’re absolutely blown away; so congratulations to everyone because this is a remarkable result.”

All subject areas increased the number of active researchers being assessed with Art & Design trebling the number of staff entered for REF.

What makes this so?

“We have staff who are utterly dedicated to their work; passionate and incredibly talented and knowledgeable about their work,” said Professor Cole. “They reach out to the community and the things they do stand out as exceptional and highly regarded pieces of research.

“They’re also very collegial in the ways in which they work on these projects, so you get a culture that builds on and develops early-career researchers and the people who are more experienced. It’s a kind of energising flow of engagement.

“All in all, it’s a wonderful REF for the Faculty. There are a whole range of areas where people are doing new and exciting things, and we are now looking at where we can improve and make cultural shifts so that the next REF will be even better.”