University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is one of the world’s top research-intensive universities, ranked 4th in the UK based on the quality and breadth of its research - known as research power - and is Scotland’s top ranked institution, according to Times Higher Education's REF 2021 power ratings.

Nearly 90 per cent of the University’s research activity is in the highest categories – 4 star and 3 star – which are classified respectively as ‘world leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’.

Three quarters of the research areas in which Edinburgh was assessed in REF 2021 – 21 disciplines out of 28 – were judged to be in the top five in the UK.

The Edinburgh Research Explorer provides a public view of the University's research activity which facilitated 1,005,986 downloads of research outputs in 2020.