March 2022
Price: £95 PLUS VAT
Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
This conference was a timely opportunity to discuss the ongoing review of the REF, looking at the objectives, processes, and priorities for research evaluation in the UK.
It took place during the outreach and engagement phase of the future research assessment programme (FRAP), and the discussion considered wider developments in research assessment, including the impact of the new UKRI open access policy, and ongoing efforts to reduce bureaucracy and administration in research funding and assessment.
We also expected discussion to reflect the issues being considered in the Nurse and Tickell reviews into the research ecosystem and research bureaucracy, and implications for the REF going forward.
Overall, the agenda was structured to bring out latest thinking on:
- FRAP - progress and what next for the REF
- initial impressions - what can be learned from first-hand experiences with REF 2021
- scope - the definition of research excellence and recognising alternative outputs
- impact - assessment, measurement and societal contribution
- open research and open access - new guidelines, next steps and priorities going forward
- global perspective - research assessment internationally and what can be learned from best practice
We were pleased to be able to include keynote sessions with Dr Steven Hill, Director of Research, Research England; Dr Fang Xu, Associate Professor, Institute of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Susan Guthrie, Research Group Director, Science and Emerging Technology, RAND Europe. The chairs are Professor the Lord Krebs, Emeritus Professor of Zoology, University of Oxford; and Chi Onwurah MP, Shadow Minister for Science, Research & Innovation.
The conference was an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside key policy officials who attended from BEIS; DfE, NI; the DfT; Dstl; the DHSC; FCDO; the IPO; and The Scottish Government - as well as parliamentary pass-holders from the House of Lords.
