Our Research
MAKING A MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON THE WORLD
Researchers at Queen's help tackle the global challenges of our age, changing people’s lives for the better.
We are a world-class international university built on teaching excellence, leading-edge research, innovation, collaboration and engagement.
With over 24,000 students, including 3,500 international students from 80 different countries, and 3,500 staff, the University is a dynamic and diverse institution, a magnet for inward investment, a patron of the Arts and a global player in areas ranging from cancer studies to sustainability, and from pharmaceuticals to cyber security.
Strategy 2030 sets out our ambition for the next 10 years to shape a better world through life-changing education and research across our disciplines, investing in our people, both students and staff.
Our strategic research themes will focus on:
- A transformative and sustainable economy
- Secure connected intelligence – AI and the data revolution
- Healthy living for all
- Human environment relations
- Inclusive and cohesive communities
We are a research-intensive university, organised to facilitate and promote inter-disciplinary research.
It is our purpose and responsibility to take on major global challenges, and to find answers that will help to build a better society.
Explore our research across disciplines such as English, Engineering, Business, Law, Creative Arts, Architecture, Food Science, Physics and Nursing.
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a UK-wide assessment of the quality of research in universities undertaken by expert review panels.
The University finalised its submission to REF 2021 in March 2021. This encompassed 22 of the 34 UoAs. Across the submission, 2,267 research outputs were submitted from 1,084 submitted staff, along with 84 impact case studies.
The most recent results have been published in May 2022, and have confirmed our place as a world-leading university. The results demonstrated our research excellence across a range of disciplines, putting us in the top 20 per cent of all UK universities.
We’re proud of our reputation for research – and we’re even more ambitious for its future.
Informed by UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), today our research culture is primed by investment in areas of research strength, particularly translational expertise, working across disciplines to address local and global challenges such as soil degradation, water scarcity, conflict resolution and climate change.
We support the creation of international research partnerships and with access to international funding streams, cutting edge facilities, and professional support, we attract the most talented international research staff and students.
We deliver a significant level of research and impact, through engagement with our valued European partners, and strive to build on our European successes.
We have had success in EU Research Programmes, most notably under Framework 7 and Horizon 2020.
To date, we have engaged in more than 120 Horizon 2020 projects, across 52 countries and in more than 800 collaborations.