Thanks for all the useful advice, really is much appreciated.

The department’s results don’t appear on the official REF2014 scores page however there website states “Our submission as part of Unit of Assessment 3 to the University Research Excellence Framework in 2014 was rated as 16 per cent 4* and 62 per cent 3* overall.” From my understanding the 4* rating is well below average with the 3* slightly compensating in being a little above average.

However the studentship advert quotes the REF20,4 as 77% 3* or 4* for impact, slightly disagreeing with those figures.

The Lead Supervisor hasn't published for a couple of years however I believe there are one or two in progress, should this be a concern?

In the plus the lab is pretty modern and reasonably equipped and the project is one I find very interesting. Funding is provided by the university.

Essentially my concern is whether other institutes/academics would realistically look down upon an Open University PhD qualification, and significantly whether this inhibit my chances of obtaining a fellowship etc?

I'll do a little more digging to analyse my prospects.

Thanks again for the help offered so far.

Hi all,

I'm considering doing a life sciences PhD at the Open University's Milton Keynes campus, but really want to know what people's opinions are of where it stands as a research institute.

Would a PhD here be held in lower regard than at say a red brick university?

Thanks for any contributions.