News and Events
Increase in research funding propels Loughborough into UK top five
Loughborough University is to receive the fifth largest increase in its research funding – and the greatest increase of any UK university without a medical school – according to figures released today (5 March) by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
For the first time, Loughborough University is now also among the top 20 universities in the UK for the amount of recurrent research funding it will receive and is, again, the only one in this shortlist without a medical school.
The increase, of almost £5.97million (36.93%), follows its outstanding results in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). Indeed, the Business School in particular saw 60% of its research rated as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, further enhancing its international reputation for excellence demonstrated by receiving EQUIS accreditation in November 2008 – which puts it amongst the top 5% business schools in the world.
The HEFCE announcement details how a total of £1,460 million of funding for research will be distributed among the country’s higher education institutions. This money supports the research infrastructure, including the salaries of permanent academic staff, premises, libraries and central computing costs.
The funding is allocated according to research excellence. In the 2008 RAE, every department at Loughborough was found to be undertaking research that is internationally excellent, with 18% of the University’s research considered to be ‘world leading’.
“Today’s announcement is absolutely tremendous news,” said Professor Shirley Pearce, the University’s Vice Chancellor. “Such a significant increase gives Loughborough a wonderful opportunity and we will use this to strengthen our already internationally-renowned excellence in research.”
