The periodic Research Excellence Framework in the UK is significant because it affects the allocation of funding to the universities. While in its origins it focused exclusively on research output, it has since incorporated criteria like "public" impact, which does not mean the impact of one's scholarship on one's field, but rather, e.g., how often one gets media coverage. The "top ten" in the UK overall are, perhaps unsurprisingly, somewhat bizarre:
1. University of Birmingham
2. University of York
3. University College London
3. London School of Economics
5. University of Kent
6. University of Southampton
7. University of Manchester
8. University of Warwick
9. University of Glasgow
10. Cambridge University
Oxford, in case you're wondering, was 19th. Less bizarre (and more like the PGR results) was the top ten based on "research power":
1. Oxford University
2. Cambridge University
3. University College London
4. University of Edinburgh
5. University of Leeds
6. King's College, London
7. University of Durham
8. University of Bristol
9. University of Warwick
10. University of York
(You can see the full panel for philosophy here.)
Comments from UK readers who are informed about the process are welcome. Submit comments only once; they may take awhile to appear.
