Welcome
Professor Lisa Roberts FRSB FRSA
I would like to wish everybody in our alumni community a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
This is an exciting time for the University, as we continue to emerge from the pandemic. We have bounced back very positively from the last two years to see our overall income grow to its highest level ever, driven by significant increases in research and tuition fee income.
In May we were rewarded with an outstanding performance in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021. REF is a national assessment of UK research strength, and the results showed that more than 99% of our research is of international quality, ranking Exeter 18th in the UK for research power.
Highlighting the real-world difference we make, 94% of our research has internationally excellent impact, placing us 11th in the UK for our impact, up from 48th in 2014, the largest gain in the Russell Group.
Ten of our disciplines are now in the Top 10 for overall research performance, including number one spots for Sports Science and Theology & Religious Studies, and a second place ranking for Area Studies, in which our research into the Arab and Islamic world is the best in the country.
“We saw excellent results in the National Student Survey, ranking as the top Russell Group university for overall student satisfaction.”
Top 150 in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2023.
1st amongst Russell Group universities for overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2022.
93% of our research is rated of international quality in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) with 12 of our subjects in the top 10 for world-leading impact.
Top 15 in the Guardian University Guide 2023 and The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023.
In the latest Times Higher Education World Rankings, we have moved up to 137th in the world (from 174th two years ago), a great recognition of our world-leading research, education, and partnership work. Finally, in July we saw excellent results in the National Student Survey, ranking as the top Russell Group university for overall student satisfaction. This all adds up to a tremendous 12 months.
Following the launch of our Strategy 2030, we have reorganised our University into three academic faculties, to enhance interdisciplinarity, remove barriers to collaborative working, and improve our resilience. Our new structures enhance agility and support larger, empowered and connected academic departments, giving us the strongest possible foundations on which to build for the coming decade. Each faculty champions one of our strategic missions (Environmental Sustainability, Health, Social Justice) and will lead our approach to tackling these big societal challenges.
As you will see in this magazine, we recently completed a rebrand of the University to accompany our new strategy and structures. We knew we needed an update that reflected our global position, research strengths and heritage, as well as something we could use across the evolving digital landscape. We consulted with colleagues, students, alumni and external partners on this, and I would like to thank everybody in our alumni community who helped to create a brand that signifies our future ambitions.
As I write, one of the most pressing concerns we face is the cost of living crisis, and its impact on our students. We recently invested more than £3 million to ensure that students in financial difficulty have the help they need, on top of the £5.5 million we have already put into bursary support for underprivileged undergraduate home students and students without family support. On top of this, we have included financial circumstances as a reason for mitigation for assessments and exams, and our efforts, alongside other universities, have resulted in a 13% rise in the stipend for PhD students. Working closely with the Students’ Guild and Students’ Union, I am proud of our leadership in providing this important support.
We contribute more than half a billion pounds annually to the regional economy and support more than 12,000 jobs.
We’re home to the UK’s top five most influential climate scientists – the only UK climate scientists to secure places in the global top 21 – according to The Reuters Hot List.
Winners of the BUCS Super Rugby Championship 2022 and top 5 in the 2021/22 British University and College Sport (BUCS) league.
Our Business School has been named Business School of the Year in the 2022 Times Higher Education Awards.
I hope you enjoy this edition of our Alumni Magazine, which gives a snapshot of some of the amazing things happening across our University. You can read about research in areas as diverse as blue marine, cell renewal, and our Evidence Based Justice Lab, showing how we are leading the way on our quest for a greener, healthier and fairer future.
Thank you for your ongoing support in helping our University to achieve its ambitious goals, I look forward to meeting many of you at events around the world over the coming year.
Professor Lisa Roberts FRSB FRSA
Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive University of Exeter
