Breaking into the golden triangle

Cardiff is officially one of the UK's top three universities for its world-leading research in psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience breaking the grip of the UK's golden triangle of research intensive universities.  

According to the Research Excellence Framework (REF), a national exercise that assesses the quality and impact of research in UK higher education institutions, published today (18 December 2014), Cardiff has secured a podium finish and a place amongst the world's leading research intensive universities in the field.

Professor Ed Wilding, Head of the University's School of Psychology said: "The REF results confirm the high esteem in which our peers hold our research and the wide-ranging benefits our work is delivering for individuals, for society and for the environment."

Combining the strength of the University's highly respected School of Psychology, and the flagship MRC Centre for Psychiatric Genetics and Genomics as well as other key research centres including the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), the Wales Autism Research Centre and Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute a decade of work has helped gain vital new scientific insights. 

These insights have led to wide ranging and lasting impact outside academia in the UK and internationally, from examining the complex relationship between cannabis use and its long-term effects on mental health, in particular its influence on the risk of schizophrenia, to revealing a 'governance trap' hindering action on climate change, and improving safety in the maritime industry.

Professor Sir Mike Owen, Director of the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics & Genomics added: "We have gained fundamental insights into many aspects of behaviour and made important discoveries about the causes of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and ADHD; and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.

"These results confirm our place as one of the UK and the world's leading centres for psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience."