Impact of RAE 08

My previous post mentioned about the newly released RAE 2008, a research strength indicators among UK Uni. The the journal Research Fortnight has compiled a list of RAE 2008 rankings. The result is showed as follow-

1. University of Oxford
2. University of Cambridge
3. University College London
4. University of Manchester
5. University of Edinburgh
6. Imperial College London
7. University of Nottingham
8. University of Leeds
9. University of Sheffield
10. University of Bristol
11. King's College London
12. University of Birmingham
13. University of Southampton
14. University of Glasgow
15. University of Warwick
16. Cardiff University
17. University of Newcastle
18. University of Liverpool
19. University of Durham
20. Queen Mary, University of London

Soon faster the released of RAE 08, Science magazine has published an article about the impact of RAE 08 on research funding. This is because the result will affect the funding allocated to the uni, the "viability" of science departments, job opportunities, etc.

From this article, I also noticed that another new evaluation scheme will come soon--
Research Excellence Framework (REF), most probably in 2014.

"REF will assess research quality using primarily measures such as competitive grants obtained, Ph.D.s granted, and citations received for papers. Many questions remain about whether this approach can truly evaluate research quality across disciplines that include music, midwifery, economics, philosophy, and all the traditional sciences."

Source:

RESEARCH ASSESSMENT: U.K. University Research Ranked; Funding Impacts to Follow
John Travis (2 January 2009)
Science 323 (5910), 24. [DOI:10.1126/science.323.5910.24]