The UK funding bodies have published the results of the UK’s most recent national research assessment exercise, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education providers. The REF 2021 results show the University of Oxford’s submission had the highest volume of world­­­-leading research.

The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) is delighted to be part of the REF submission for Oxford. Multidisciplinarity has always been an important part of the OII’s academic identity, and we believe it is only possible to understand the rich and complex interactions of the Internet and society by approaching it from many different disciplinary perspectives.

As such, the OII’s research was submitted to 11 different units of assessment (UoAs) in REF2021: Business and Management Studies, Computer Science and Informatics, Economics and Econometrics, Education, Geography and Environmental Studies, History, Law, Philosophy, Politics and International Studies, Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, and Sociology. These UoAs range across all four main REF panels: Medicine, Health and Life Sciences; Physical Sciences, Engineering and Mathematics; Social Sciences; and Arts and Humanities.

Research at the OII has had a significant impact on policy debate, formulation and implementation around the globe, as well as on people’s wellbeing, safety and understanding. This real-world impact is exemplified by the eight research impact case studies submitted by the OII across seven units of assessment in the 2021 REF:

• Making fairer decisions: The bias detection tool developed at Oxford and implemented by Amazon
• Improving working conditions for workers in the gig economy
• Defining A New Ethics for the Digital Age
• Informing Policy for Successful Management of Digital Transformation of European Labour Markets
• Improving government, public policy and services with data-intensive technology
• Advancing legal rules mandating data sharing to ensure innovation
• Teens and Screens – Shaping Policy and Public Debate
• Addressing the Harms of Computational Propaganda on Society

Prof Vicki Nash, Director, Associate Professor, and Senior Policy Fellow, said:

“I am so proud of the achievements of OII researchers and the team who support them. Producing outstanding, innovative research that is internationally recognised and shapes our field is at the heart of what we do, and I am delighted to see my colleagues’ work recognised through the Research Excellence Framework.  It is also wonderful to see how OII research translates to real world change in our eight impact case studies submitted to REF2021.

“As a multi-disciplinary department focused on the internet and technology, no one Unit of Assessment could capture the OII’s rich disciplinary mix of research. We are delighted to join such an exciting range of leading-edge departments from across all four divisions of the University in their REF submissions.”

More information on the University of Oxford REF 2021 results

More information about the REF