With a range of universities amongst the best in the country, the Bristol city region can boast a real strength and depth across many areas of research, notably: 
 
- Advanced engineering - particularly in aerospace and robotics 
- Environmental - especially in geotechnologies, renewable energy and the built environment 
- Medical - across many branches of medicine and biological sciences 
- Digital technologies - especially in relation to creative technologies and computing 
 
To find out more about the individual universities in the city region follow the links below: 
 
- Bath Spa University 
- University of Bath 
- University of Bristol 
- University of the West of England (UWE) 
 
You can also download the Research Assessment Exercise 2001 (RAE) ratings from HEFCE. The Higher Education Funding Council for England ( HEFCE) distributes public money for teaching and research to universities and colleges. In doing so, it aims to promote high quality education and research, within a financially healthy sector. The RAE is a regular peer review exercise to evaluate the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The next RAE data will be available in December 2008.