The University of Dundee has doubled the number of its top scoring departments in the latest Research Assessment Exercise and now has 95% of researchers working in areas of international and national excellence. One quarter of research staff are now working in departments rated 5 star - the highest rating for international excellence. Half are working in grade 5 and above.
Departments rated 5 star or 5 have increased from four to eight. They are:
Biological sciences 5* (five star)
Clinical laboratory sciences 5* (five star)
Hospital based clinical subjects 5
Clinical dentistry 5
Applied Mathematics 5
Civil engineering 5
Law 5
History 5
Principal Sir Alan Langlands congratulated staff across the university for the calibre of their work which has seen the University's research performance soar.
He said: "We are delighted but not surprised! Staff in every part of the university have worked tirelessly to achieve success - they should be proud of this fine portfolio of ratings. We will now build on our strengths, focusing on research that will benefit society as a whole and we will be uncompromising in bringing the best people to Dundee, enhancing scholarship and contributing to Scotland's knowledge economy.
"We also welcome the news that Scotland as a whole has improved its performance so significantly. We believe that it is important that funding continues to follow excellence. Economic advantage depends on sustained investment in high quality basic research.
"At Dundee it is especially good to see excellence extend across such a range of disciplines including history, law and civil engineering as well as the clinical biomedical sciences for which the University of Dundee is already internationally renowned. Our capacity to undertake fundamental research in many areas of biology and into the causes of human disease will continue to grow and the creative talents of staff and students at Duncan of Jordanstone and in the humanities will play a key role in the cultural development of Scotland where they have already achieved so much.
"One particularly interesting feature is the way the cluster of excellence in medically and biologically related sciences is multiplying into a critical mass which is not only driving the local economy but playing a significant commercial role internationally. Traditional disciplinary boundaries are melting away as pure science, the understanding of human physiology, medicine, dentistry and even applied mathematics increasingly cross over and develop synergies. A prime example of this is the work of Professor Seth and Dr Ana Schor who are based in dentistry, but are carrying out biomolecular research from which they are developing new medical treatments for wounds and diabetic foot ulcers. The relatively new disciplines of post genomics and informatics are bringing new number crunching weapons to bear on the vast amounts of information now available both as a biological and a patient level both to push back the frontiers of knowledge and to improve the delivery of personal health care.
"The Department of History has achieved great success in the RAE The department is one of the strongest in the country for 18th century historical studies, and unique in possessing professors of Scottish art and architecture. A major research project on the significance of Dundee as a "laboratory of industrialisation" in Britain also played a key part in the success.
Law's research rating has risen to a grade 5. Developments in international water law research, the University's unique charity law research unit designed to help the voluntary sector and its advisers and the global role of the Centre for Energy Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy which has advised a range of governments and commercial enterprises on complex issues have all contributed to progress in this area.
Civil engineering has maintained its grade 5 status, adding the Centre for Enterprise Management as well as a geotechnical engineering research group to a range of first class research activities including concrete technology, construction management, fluid mechanics and structural engineering.
Sir Alan: "To those who suggest 'grade inflation' I would say this: Scotland is often too ready to play down its achievements. The 2001 RAE process has been even more rigorous than before with a large number of international experts drafted in to sit on subject panels, examining each area and comparing it with international standards. They found research in Scotland to be very high calibre and this confirms a number of other recent indices of Scotland's international standing in science. Scottish academics produce 1% of all research publications in the world - we are third in the world league table for publications per head of population."/ends
View the RAE table.