A property research centre at the University of Aberdeen is celebrating after its staff were ranked top in Europe and among the best in the world by a new US study.
The performance of academics from The Centre for Property Research (CPR), based at the University of Aberdeen Business School, has been recognised in a recent paper in a leading US real estate journal*.
The study – entitled 'The Internationalization of Real Estate Research' - ranks Aberdeen as best in Europe and No.10 in the world for its research output in real estate journals for the period 2001-6. The University of Reading was ranked second in Europe and the University of Cambridge was third, indicating the strength of UK property research.
The study also ranks three Aberdeen academics – Professor Pat Hendershott, Professor Martin Hoesli and Professor Bryan MacGregor – in the Top 12 published property academics in Europe and in the top 100 worldwide.
Professor Norman Hutchison, Director of the Centre for Property Research at the University of Aberdeen, said: "We are naturally proud to see Aberdeen academics featuring so prominently in this new ranking. We have a very strong set of researchers based right across the whole Business School and, while all studies like this are open to debate and discussion, it's certainly gratifying to have such recognition."
The CPR has developed a national and international reputation for high quality research since its establishment nearly a decade and a half ago. In the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) for UK universities undertaken in 2001 – conducted by UK's Funding Councils – the group was awarded the top 5 rating, putting the staff at the forefront of research in this subject area internationally.
Professor Hutchison added: "The new rankings auger well for our performance in the latest RAE when the results are published in December 2008