Sociology is second in UK for research power

The Department of Sociology is celebrating the research environment it offers being rated the best in the UK and being second for research power following the publication of the Research Excellence Framework 2021.

Professor Pamela Cox, Head of the Department of Sociology at Essex, said: “This is a wonderful result for our whole team. I know how hard my colleagues work researching topics ranging from organised crime, to global supply chains, to migration, to ways of building trust in communities. Our research has real world impact and directly shapes our teaching. It’s great to see this recognition for Essex Sociology.“

REF2021 is the system for assessing the quality and impact of research at UK universities and highlights the University of Essex’s impressive growth and increasing impact. Times Higher Education's research power measure looks at REF2021 assessment of research outputs, research impact and research environment alongside the number of staff submitted by each institution for each unit of assessment.

Alongside being ranked 2nd for research power, sociology at Essex is also ranked 7th for grade point average overall, first for research environment, 9th for research impact and 13th for research outputs. 100% of our research impact in sociology was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent and 100% of our research environment was rated as world-leading.

• Read more about our performance in REF 2021