REF Environment

The environment element of the REF counted for 15 per cent of the overall quality rating and is assessed in terms of a UoA’s 'vitality and sustainability', including its contribution to the vitality and sustainability of the wider discipline or research base during the assessment period (1 August 2013 to 31 July 2020).

All HEIs submitting to the REF were required to return a single institutional level (IL) environment statement in addition to an environment template for each submitting unit they are returning to the REF. The REF sub-panels use the information provided in the IL statement to inform and contextualise their assessment of the relevant sections of the unit-level template.

Since the 2021 submission, the University has invested well over a £1M to transform its research environment and infrastructure to lay the foundations for a significant submission into the next REF exercise.