Research Excellence

International Reputation

Ulster University’s international reputation for research excellence has received worldwide recognition.

International experts have judged Ulster University as being in the top 25% of UK universities for world-leading research based on research power, and 72% of our research activity is judged to be world-leading and internationally excellent.

- Professor Cathy Gormley-Heenan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research & Impact)

Excellence in research at Ulster envisions an internationally-engaged, research-led university, where both disciplinary excellence and impactful interdisciplinary research are undertaken across our strategic themes of:

• social renewal
• sustainability
• healthy communities
• creativity and culture

The outcomes will have global relevance and contribute to the social, economic and cultural advancement of Northern Ireland and will also play a critical role in fulfilling our civic commitment and informing student learning.

Our Research & Impact Strategy 2017-2022 supports Ulster University’s vision to deliver globally significant research with local relevance and to make a positive contribution to society. The strategy defines our ambitions and provides direction and focus for our research and its impact, empowering our people to undertake interdisciplinary research in a supportive environment to produce internationally excellent and world-leading outputs with transformative impact.

Over the next five years we will achieve a number of key targets, which are detailed in the strategy document, a number of these include:

• increase our number of PhD students by 30%
• increase our level of overall research grants by 50%
• increase our research partnerships with business by 25%
• improve our positioning within the top 25% of UK Universities for research power

Download Research & Impact Strategy 2017-2022