TWO of the North-East’s universities are vying with each other to claim top dog status after an independent assessment found that they were both carrying out world-class research.

Durham University research was assessed as “world-leading” across the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities in a national exercise to determine the quality of research in UK universities.

Newcastle University said the exercise – known as Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 - confirmed the Tyneside university’s global academic status with with research into areas such as neuroscience, English language and literature and computing science rated as amongst the leading departments in the UK.

Durham pointed out that 83 per cent of its research was assessed as 'internationally excellent quality' or 'world-leading', that is either 3* or 4*.

Overall, 98 per cent of Durham University research was assessed as international quality.

Durham’s research environment was found to be of international quality across the board and 98 of it was assessed as 'internationally” excellent' or 'world-leading'.

Newcastle claimed that a six year assessment of research activity in 154 UK higher education providers puts them at 16th in the UK for ‘research power’, a rise of one place from 2008.

One of the new assessment criteria introduced for REF 2014 was the wider impact of university research on society.

Durham submitted 89 impact case studies where research had translated into real-life applications. Examples included the development of super-repellent nanocoatings which protect mobile devices from water damage.

Other Durham examples included new turbine technology which has enabled more than 1,000 aircraft, carrying passengers all over the world, to have more efficient engines, saving fuel and causing less pollution.

Newcastle University pointed to the impact of work by Professor Ian McKeith which led to the first diagnosis and treatment of Lewy Body dementia.

Research produced at Teesside University was considered to have strong impact with 100 per cent of the social policy, history and allied health submissions, and 90 per cent of the general engineering submission rates as being world-leading or internationally excellent.

Northumbria University said the REF assessment demonstrated that the university had made a major step forward in research, reporting one of the largest rises in research rated as world-leading, nearly tripling its share of research rated in these categories.