Birmingham City's history can be traced back to the five individual colleges which were brought together as The City of Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) process for assessing the UK HE sector, Birmingham City's results demonstrated the public benefit of its research to society and the economy, with almost 90% deemed to have either 'outstanding' or 'very considerable' impact.
The Centre for Media and Cultural Research, established in 2009, aims to produce distinctive, collaborative work within the field of media and culture. In the REF the majority of its research environment and activities were judged as of a quality that is internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour. Rajinder Dudrah, Professor of Cultural Studies and Creative Industries, is a Co-Investigator and the lead for Strand 4, Languages in the Creative Economy.