Introduction
Welcome to the University’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) website which
will provide you with the latest news about the development of the REF by the HE
funding bodies and the steps being taken by the University to prepare for its
submission in 2013. The deadline for submissions to the REF
is 29 November 2013.
What is the REF?
The REF is the new system for assessing the quality of
research in higher education institutions in the UK, and
replaces the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) last
conducted in 2008.
The assessment outcomes for each submission made by institutions will be used
- to inform the selective allocation of the four HE funding
bodies’ grant for research to the institutions which they fund
with effect from 2015-16.
- to provide accountability for public investment in research
and to produce evidence of the benefits of this investment.
- to provide benchmarking information and to establish
reputational yardsticks for use within the HE sector and for
public information.
The REF will be a process of expert review with discipline-based expert
panels assessing submissions made by HEIs in 36 units of assessment (UOAs).
The REF focuses on assessing three elements which together reflect the key
characteristics of research excellence: outputs; impact;
environment. Each of these three elements will be assessed
against appropriate criteria for excellence, and rated by the expert panels on a
five point scale: 4*, 3*, 2*, 1*, unclassified.
For each submission the UOA sub-panels will develop a ‘sub-profile’ for each
of the three elements of the assessment. The sub-profiles
will show the proportion of activity judged to meet each of the four starred
levels. The three sub-profiles will then be aggregated to
form the overall quality profile for the UOA, with each element weighted as
follows: outputs (65%); impact (20%); environment (15%). The overall quality profile will be the primary outcome of the REF to be
published in December 2014.
Professor Wayne Martin
School of Philosophy and Art History
Wayne discusses his Essex Autonomy Project, an interdisciplinary research project which involves significant collaborations not only
with other disciplines but also with practitioners such as psychiatrists, medical doctors and police officers.
Dr Gavin Sandercock
School of Biological Sciences
Gavin stresses the benefits of exercise for heart attack patients and the NHS. At our cardiac rehabilitation centre he prescribes
patients with a dose of exercise in the same way a doctor might prescribe a drug to move them up the activity profile.
Dr Clara Sandoval
School of Law
Clara discusses transitional justice, an emerging field which aims to help society reckon with their past and to move forward not only re-establishing political, economics and justice systems but also helping the victims to continue to be part of society in an active way.
Professor Heather Laurie
ISER
Heather discusses ‘Understanding Society’, a very large-scale annual survey of 40,000 households, which is used by thousands of researchers, in the UK and internationally, policy-makers and government departments to understand change.