Like all such endeavours the REF does not give the whole story, but it is the best measure we have and very important. I would like to thank the many academic, research and professional services staff who contributed to the final submission and to all my colleagues for the huge effort undertaken at all levels of the IoPPN, who should all be very proud.
Professor Sir Simon Wessely, IoPPN Interim Executive Dean
12 May 2022
REF 2021 highlights IoPPN's research impact and quality
Results highlight the excellent quality and the positive contribution IoPPN’s research makes to global society.
The Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF2021) results are released today and highlight the excellent quality of research and the positive contribution King’s and IoPPN’s research makes to global society.
The REF provides accountability for public funding of universities, influences funding allocation and is undertaken by the four UK higher education funding bodies.
We are delighted to announce that IoPPN is in the top quartile for all components of REF2021 Unit of Assessment 4 (UoA4 Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience) and we have gone up one rank in GPA, which reflects the overall quality of our submission.
We returned 341 academic and other independent research staff, and overall the quality of our research has been rated 90% either world leading (62% 4*) or internationally excellent (28% 3*).
We were the second highest higher education institution in our unit of assessment for research power - a combination of the overall quality and size - and second highest in the number of 4* outputs we produce.
Our research environment has been assessed as 100% at the highest rating of 4*, which means that it is conducive to producing research of world leading quality.
The impact of our research outside academia scored 92% 4* (outstanding) and 8% 3* (very considerable) in terms of its reach and significance; and we rank eighth in our field.
The quality of our publication outputs were assessed as 79% either world leading (39.6% 4*) or internationally excellent (44.2% 3*) in terms of originality, significance and rigour; we have gone from 26th to 21st rank for 4* publications and from the 2nd to top quartile.
Within IoPPN we have very vibrant research community, with strong commitment to culture, diversity and inclusion and early career support. We have an outstanding environment to conduct research and an impact beyond academia which serves society.
Professor Matthew Hotopf, Vice Dean Research and IoPPN REF2021 submission lead
The IoPPN’s mission is to bring together all the disciplines of importance for mental health and neurological conditions, with the aim of improving lives locally and globally through world-class research, education and training.
The submission demonstrated the quality, range of impact locally, nationally and globally, from influencing government policy to co-production and empowering patient voice and local communities in their own mental healthcare; to enhanced and innovative training for health practitioners; and economic investment in new drugs, models of treatment and care. Further details of IoPPN’s impact can be found here.
Professor Wessely added: “We will be analysing all of the data and feedback for ages and ages over the summer to inform our future research and strategy so we can do even better next time.”
For King’s, we can be proud that we have sustained our position among the world’s best universities for research excellence and power, reflective of the depth of quality and impact of our research.
Professor Shitij Kapur, President & Principal of King’s
You can read more about the results across the university here. You can find out more about the impact of King’s research in Spotlight feature series.
In this story
Regius Professor of Psychiatry
Executive Dean, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience