League tables: the top universities for research

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Catseye
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League tables: the top universities for research

Post by Catseye »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/un ... earch.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

UCL has for the first time overtaken Cambridge :shock: and the "Golden triangle" seems to be strengthening their grip over research funds.

Imperial although only sixth seem to produce the best high quality research "pound for pound" than any other institution in the U.K.
KB
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Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by KB »

Lots of different ways to read these figures. Oxford still best though :wink:
Amber
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Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by Amber »

Catseye wrote: UCL has for the first time overtaken Cambridge :shock: .
UCL recently merged with the IOE. I am certain this accounts for their newfound success. Excellent students and staff at the IOE :wink:
Guest55
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Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by Guest55 »

Time spent on research does not necessarily correlate with good quality teaching ...
JamesDean
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Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by JamesDean »

Guest55 wrote:Time spent on research does not necessarily correlate with good quality teaching ...
+1

JD
Rob Clark
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Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by Rob Clark »

UCL recently merged with the IOE. I am certain this accounts for their newfound success. Excellent students and staff at the IOE


:lol: :lol: :lol:

Does their recent elevation owe anything to any particular student, Amber…?
Catseye
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Location: Cheshire

Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by Catseye »

Guest55 wrote:Time spent on research does not necessarily correlate with good quality teaching ...
I agree there is definitely some truth to this.

Manchester is a good example of this research heavy institution (one of the top universities in the world) but teaching in some department needs improving, it seems to me that under- graduates are somewhat of an after thought!

see here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... dents.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

to be fair to ICL their teaching and research is top notch considering they do not have the prohibitory expensive system of Oxbrigde tutor/collegiate based system ( which will have to stop sooner or latter , Harvard, MIT ect do ok and they are superior universities)
KB
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Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by KB »

I don't think this report is pretending to say anything about teaching. Undergraduate study is only one part of a University and this is looking at where the funding is going for top class research.
It is of more use to post grads and post docs but they would have their ears to the ground anyway.

Believe IoE is seen as the elite institution in its field, possibly along with Cambridge? Was certainly seen as the place to study when we investigated.

UCL is pretty strong in itself though - viewed as international centre for certain areas of science.

It is a shame that there is increased centralisation of talent and money but maybe that's what's needed to stay internationally competitive?
Amber
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Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by Amber »

I agree with your view KB that this report, based on the REF, does not pretend to be about teaching and postgraduate research is its remit. The IOE doesn't have any undergraduates anyway - they start at PGCE and offer lots of masters courses and above. There is a heavy research focus for sure. When I was looking, I really didn't want to go to London but it was pretty clear that to access what I felt was the best provision in the field, that's what I had to do. I live much closer to Oxford but felt that in my field it didn't really offer what I was looking for.

One of the issues with this kind of ranking table is that people try to draw conclusions from it which were never designed to be drawn. Personally I'm not a lover of this sort of thing- in my experience your supervisor(s) are the key to study at higher level - and every institution has a mix of good and bad. It's only when you get to post doc stuff that the 'name' of the institution and its ability to secure funding start to impact massively on your prospects.
KB
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Re: League tables: the top universities for research

Post by KB »

It may depend on one's field - only have real insight into science side.
Supervisor is critical for doctorate but experience of being at elite research institution is of a wealth of world leading research going on around that one can access on a daily basis. This not only takes the doctoral training to a higher level but also provides opportunities for post doc positions in situ.

Perhaps the increased focus on collaboration between fields has driven a concentration of research in the 'golden triangle'. Modern communication supposedly makes it easier to colloborate across the miles but actually having researchers working across different labs on a regular basis still ( atm) requires close proximity.

I thought that Oxford Brookes had a good reputation for Education but is that just PGCE rather than research ?
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