PIONEERING research developed at Bournemouth University has been recognised as “world-leading”.

In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (RAF) 2014, which assess the quality and impact of research at all UK higher education institutions, 96 percent of research submitted for assessment by BU was rated at “international level”.

And an impressive 18 percent was deemed “world-leading”.

In recent years the university has celebrated success with various research projects ranging from tourism, animation, health and social sciences.

Recently a group-based fatigue management programme for people with multiple sclerosis was developed by researchers from BU’s Clinical Research Unit, alongside staff from the Dorset MS service at Poole, which is now benefitting hundreds of MS patients.

Other highlights include research into improving blur techniques, which have had significant impact on the animation industry.

A team from BU discovered a better method of mimicking shutter opening and closing times. Just a few months after the research was published the method was adopted by film studios across the world.

Other projects, which are ongoing at the university, include ground-breaking research using fruit flies to analyse the genes involved in the development of schizophrenia.

The RAF assessment tool, which replaces the existing Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), also measured the impact of research outside of the world of academia.

This could mean the difference that research has made to the economy, society, public policy, culture or quality of life.

The findings reveal 28 percent of BU’s research was deemed to have an “outstanding impact” and a further 67 percent was rated as having “considerable" or "very considerable impact”.

Professor John Vinney, vice chancellor at BU, said: “2014 was a significant year in the development of research at Bournemouth University. With the recruitment of over 50 new academics and a substantial growth in grants income, research at BU is going from strength to strength.”

Describing BU’s results from the RAE as “outstanding”, Mr Vinney added: “Our results are a credit to the outstanding work which goes on at BU on a day-to-day basis. Everyone at BU can take pride in these results, as we all have contributed; whether through the direct submission of work or by building an environment and culture that allows research to flourish.”