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School of Life & Health Sciences in top three for research in UK

The exceptional quality of research in the School of Life and Health Sciences (LHS) has been confirmed in the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) results – with research in Allied Health Professions and Studies ranked 3rd out of 63 UK higher education institutions.

This reflects the volume of internationally excellent and world leading research produced within the School and is an outstanding achievement for the University.

Students in the laboratory
Professor Martin Griffin, Executive Dean, School of Life and Health Sciences, commented on the School's achievements:

"This is fantastic news for the School of Life and Health Sciences and concrete evidence that the quality of our research is improving year on year. As a School, we consistently engage in internationally excellent and world-leading research which is rigorous and relevant to today's life and health science practices. I'm delighted that this has been recognised in the Research Assessment Exercise. "


LHS has an interdisciplinary approach to Allied Health Professions. The goal is to develop a translational framework that supports the application of new knowledge and technology to clinical products, policy and practice across the age-span. Research focuses include cellular and clinical imaging, chronic diseases, clinical vision sciences, cognitive and perceptual systems and communicable diseases.

Breakdown of the Research Assessment Exercise results:

Quality profile

The Quality Profiles for each Unit of Assessment assign the research submitted into one of five categories, ranging from 4* to unclassified, where 4* is world-leading, 3* is internationally excellent, 2* is internationally recognised and 1* is nationally recognised.

 4*  3*  2*  1*  U/C
 15  35  35  15  0

2008 vs 2001 results

Our 2008 results represent an improvement on Aston’s performance in the previous RAE in 2001. Although the rating methodology has changed considerably, it is possible to correlate the 2008 data with 2001 to show how Aston would have scored under the old 5* rating system.
Caption
Unit of  assessment 
2001
2008 
 Allied Health Professions and Studies
 5C and 3C
5*C

Staff submitted

88% of Aston academic staff were submitted to RAE 2008, a significant increase on the 70% submitted in 2001. Aston is an inclusive community and we believe that it was right to submit as many staff as possible, including many early career researchers who made up 29% of staff submitted.

Unit of assessment 
% of staff submitted 
Early career researchers 
 Allied Health Professions and Studies
 76%  32%

Visit our research pages

Find out more about Aston University's other RAE results.

Find out more about the RAE.