School of Psychology and Neuroscience Research Excellence 2021

We are very pleased to see that we have maintained our position as one of the top Psychology & Neuroscience research departments in the country according to the results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) published today (Thursday 12 May). Over 91% of research carried out by the School was ranked as world-leading or internationally excellent. This includes research on a diverse range of topics from all of our research groupings.

Our Head of School, Professor Gareth Miles, said: “Almost all the research from the School was placed in the top two categories of world-leading and internationally excellent. This achievement reflects the collegiality and impressive dedication of all our staff and students. We are very pleased that our peers have, again, ranked our interdisciplinary research in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience so highly.”

REF found that the overall quality of research from the School had increased since the last assessment exercise in 2014 with a particular increase in world leading research.

St Andrews Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sally Mapstone FRSE said: “The overall quality of our research has increased significantly since the last REF in 2014, we have cause to celebrate the achievements of several of our Schools whose research is rated amongst the best in the UK, and the fact that over 88% of the research we produce in this small corner of Fife has been held to be world-leading or internationally excellent is a remarkable achievement.”

Although REF itself explicitly does not rank universities or departments according to research strengths, the metrics it produces are widely used in the higher education sector and in the media to benchmark research performance. Using the REF Grade Point Average methodology we ranked 17th out of 93 Psychology & Neuroscience departments in the UK and ranked 3rd in Scotland. 

Director of Research - Dr James Ainge