RAE success for School of Mathematics

Power rating in Mathematics

Rank and Mathematics School:
1 Cambridge
2 Oxford
3 Bristol
4 Warwick
5 Imperial
6 Manchester
7 Edinburgh
8 Southampton
9 Nottingham
10 Leeds


Mathematical research at Southampton now ranks 8th in the UK, based on benchmarks combining 'quality' with 'volume' and known as 'market share' and 'power', which are likely to be used in the financial settlement next year. (Excluding the "Golden Triangle", Southampton is ranked 5th.) Under the same 'power' measure, Southampton Statistics and Operational Research are ranked 2nd in the UK, beaten only (just) by Oxford.


70% of the research in Applied mathematics was ranked in the top two categories (4* or 3*) which equates to quality that is 'world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour' or 'internationally excellent'. This places applied mathematics at Southampton joint 5th (with Bristol) in the UK by this measure. By Grade Point Average, Southampton's applied group is ranked alongside Durham, Imperial, Manchester and Warwick.


Just over 60 Southampton staff were submitted to the three mathematical RAE Units of Assessments 20, 21 and 22, and 95% per cent of their research was deemed to be of international standard.


Head of the School of Mathematics Professor James Vickers stated, "This confirms that mathematical research at Southampton is ranked well within the top 10 in the UK and demonstrates our commitment to research of the highest international quality. We will build on these results and continue to expand our research base further in the near future and into strategically new areas. Southampton is clearly a place that potential PhD students or early career researchers in mathematics should naturally consider amongst their first choices.


The RAE results bring a very positive end to a year that has also seen the School earning nearly GBP 6m in research grant income.

The University of Southampton achieved excellent RAE results across the board, confirming its position as one of the top universities in the country.

For further information:
The RAE is a UK Government-backed assessment carried out by independent reviewers who report on the quality of different areas of research in each university across the whole sector. The results of the RAE will be used to determine future funding for research groups from 2009. In the last RAE (2001) the School of Mathematics achieved the grade 5 in each of its research submissions in Applied, Operational Research, Pure and Statistics.