About the RGS

Two students in a lecture hall

The Research Graduate School (RGS) works closely with our institutes to ensure all students have appropriate support and access to skill-building training. It also monitors student progress and experience, and processes the administrative side of a research degree, including student applications.

The RGS works closely with research institutes to ensure that all students have appropriate support throughout their studies and access to training and development programmes that will complement their research and provide a foundation for their future careers. There are currently around 250 research students in the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. These are distributed betweenÌýten research institutes

The RGS plays an important role in ensuring that the administration, the procedures for ensuring academic progression and the provisions for student support and experience are in line with the expectations of the QAA quality code Chapter B11 Research Degrees (June 2012).

The ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ has scored consistently high ratings in teaching assessments carried out since 1995 by the Quality Assurance Agency.

REF 2021The majority of our research has been rated ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (the highest ratings possible) by the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF, 2021).

Learn more about our research


Specialist research areas which enjoy an international and national reputation include:

  • Applied social studies
  • Social work
  • Health services
  • Media and new technologies
  • Computer graphics and medical visualisation
  • Human computer interaction
  • Business and management
  • English language assessment
  • Tourism and leisure
  • Biomedicine
  • Cryobiology
  • Bioenvironmental sciences
  • Sport and physical activity
  • Research-informed education