Optometry singled out as ‘thriving’ in latest Research Excellence Framework

The quality of optometry research at UK universities has been highlighted by the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF). 

The REF, which assessed almost 76,000 researchers and 185,000 research outputs from 157 Higher Education institutions, singled out optometry and vision science for the high quality of its research.

Optometry and vision science was included in the allied health professions section, which also included dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy.

Of the 14 professions within the allied health section, it was singled out as ‘thriving,’ with ‘world-leading activity in many areas, ranging from the global prevalence of eye disease through to hypothesis-rich psychophysical investigations of visual function.’

The REF is carried out every six years, and can influence the amount of research funding that universities can be awarded by the Government.

Professor David Whitaker and Professor Shahina Pardhan, both of whom sat on the REF assessment panel, highlighted that evaluations of specific interventions for patient benefit within optometry and vision science were particularly strong, and that this should serve as “a fitting testament to the pioneering vision researchers of the past whose work contributed such a strong foundation for the quality of optometric research in the present-day.”

Whitaker and Pardhan added that “These results strongly suggest that optometry research should be given all the support it needs for this level of achievement to be sustained and increased for the future.”