Research Excellence Framework

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) assesses the quality and impact of research submitted by UK universities across all disciplines. The last assessment was conducted in 2014.

The Smart and Functional Materials Group contributed to the REF 2014 submission of The Open University in sub-panel UoA13: Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy & Materials. 18 FTE academics provided 64 outputs in the themes of Atomic, Molecular and Materials Engineering.

The results of the REF show that 85% of our research activity, and 90.6 % of our outputs, are considered of internationally excellent or world-leading quality, placing the UoA13 Research at The Open University top half of the institutions within REF.