About the Information School

Our field is characterised by its distinctive, interdisciplinary focus on the interactions between people, information and digital technologies. It has the ultimate goal of enhancing information access, and the management, sharing and use of information, to benefit society.

Good information empowers people and enriches their lives. Expertise to use, design and manage information products, services and systems effectively has never been more important than today, in our increasingly fast-moving and complex world.

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World-leading research

The School has been at the forefront of developments in the information field for more than fifty years.

We are recognised as the leading school of our kind in the UK, with an international reputation for the quality of our teaching and research, and for the achievements of our graduates.

We are proud that 91 per cent of our research is rated in the highest two categories in the REF 2021, meaning it is classed as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Our impact submission is rated 7th nationally, showing our research is instrumental in tackling the greatest challenges of our time and making a real-world difference to people’s lives around the world.

We are rated as 10th nationally for the quality of our research environment, demonstrating that the Information School is a vibrant, progressive and supportive place to undertake research. 

Our research is world-leading and we achieved the highest possible grade in every one of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) evaluations of research quality in UK universities since these began in 1989.

The results show that 100% of our research environment was judged to be of world-leading quality and 100% of our research impact was judged as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Through our research we seek to make a significant intellectual contribution to advancing knowledge in our field, but also to impact on the practical management and use of information.

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Interdisciplinary expertise

Information science is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary subject.

Our staff backgrounds and research reflect influences from computing, health, chemistry and different arts and humanities and social sciences disciplines, as well as experience from professional practice in information roles.

We have particular expertise in information and knowledge management, information systems, libraries and the information society, information retrieval, health informatics, data science and chemoinformatics.

We run a vibrant doctoral programme which attracts students from many different countries to work with us in all of these areas.

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Our offering to students

Students who come to study with us at the Information School are an integral part of our research culture. The School is their home and we pride ourselves on the friendliness and helpfulness of staff.

We offer students an outstanding academic education through a wide range of taught postgraduate degrees which embed the principles of research-led teaching.

Students joining any of our degree programmes will develop a critical understanding of current issues in library and information management and will benefit from being taught by staff who are undertaking leading-edge research and who have many links with industry.

As part of our mission to provide world-quality university education in information, we aim to inspire and help our students to pursue their highest ambitions for their academic and professional careers.