Birmingham is confirmed as top research player in the region

The Higher Education Funding Council for England announced today that it will award the University of Birmingham funding of £44.6 million for research, placing the University top in the region and 11th nationally. This is the first award of funding that reflects Birmingham's performance in the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 - a UK-wide survey of research quality - which ranked 89.9% of the University's research as being "world-leading" or "internationally excellent". Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, Professor Michael Sterling, said: "At the University of Birmingham, we are committed to carrying out research that has global impact; that is agenda-setting; that changes lives. This award recognises that the quality and quantity of research activity undertaken at Birmingham is delivering just that. This confirms the University's position as a major international research player and the biggest in the region."