Does anyone know how I can determine how good similar research groups are in different Universities?

Im in the UK hoping to apply for Physics PhD's in the UK. I know about the 2001 RAE marks that rank each dept. But these are several years out of date now and only rank the dept not the research group that it consists of. Are there any other statistics out there I can look at?

I know that a good way to do this is to look at citation scores. But I've no idea where to look for them.

Any suggestions are greatly welcomed.

Cheers!!

what sort of research would you like to do?

Not 100% sure yet, but it will probably be in Condensed Matter.

I believe the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCL has a good Condensed Matter group. www.cmmp.ucl.ac.uk

According to their website they have an open day on the 21st of February...

As you get into the literature, you should begin to get a feel for who are the main players in the field, based on what has been published and the 'impact factor' of their papers.

i agree with huntie you can see by who has published the most in the field who are the key figures in that field hence who you want to work for!