Research Facts

  • Aberdeen performed outstandingly in the UK’s most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE2008) with 89% of research activity assessed as international quality and 55% is ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Read more about our RAE2008 results.
  • Total research income has more than trebled over the last ten years, while our income from competitively-won research grants has grown 35 percent over the last four years alone, as has our postgraduate research community.
  • The Scottish Funding Council increased Aberdeen’s research grant for 2009/10 by 27%. This is by far the highest percentage increase given to any Scottish research-intensive university.
  • We recently strengthened our research community with over 70 internationally-distinguished new professors, and created new opportunities for multi-disciplinary research. The £15million second phase of our Sixth Century Chairs recruitment drive is attracting further outstanding academics from the world’s leading universities.
  • We host research centres and institutes covering a wide range of topics. In addition to research in our three Colleges, we have a growing number of nationally-important multidisciplinary projects and industry partnerships. These include the RCUK Rural Digital Economy Hub,  the UK’s National Subsea Research Institute and the Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability (ACES).
  • The creation of the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health has made the University a leading international centre for research in this area, created by the merger in 2008 with the former Rowett Research Institute.
  • We claim many ‘firsts’, including the first clinical use of MRI imaging over 30 years ago. A number of Nobel laureates worked at Aberdeen and were honoured for their achievements in medicine, physics, and chemistry, and a Nobel Peace Prize. Read about our Nobel prizewinners.
  • In recent years we have created 21 spin-out companies,three of which were sold in 2008. Over 90 patents are being exploited by industry through over 50 licence agreements, and proof of concept studies are providing a pipeline of potential new technologies. See our Research and Innovation services.
  • The environment for researchers is being boosted by a recent investment of over £170million in our campus and a further £240million planned in the next decade, on new buildings and research facilities. Read about our capital programme.

Read more fast facts about the University or visit our news section for our latest research stories and more.