The Principal has launched an exercise to review the University’s research performance in preparation for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) submission, which will be made in 2013.

  • Aim of the exercise

The “mini-REF” exercise aims to build the momentum of the University’s REF preparations.  In particular, the exercise will provide individuals with feedback about their current research along with advice, where necessary, on how to develop in the right direction.  The exercise will also allow College management to take stock of School and Research Institute strengths and weaknesses in outputs, environment and impact, with plenty of time to implement any corrective action required.

  • Eligible staff

Only academic staff whose primary employment function is research or research and teaching will be eligible for submission to the REF. Teaching only staff will not be eligible.  Research assistants and research fellows will be eligible only by exception.

Therefore, only staff on “research and teaching” contracts and staff specifically identified by their College on "research only" contracts need participate in the mini-REF exercise.

  • Review process

The review will be directed by College management and will involve assessment panels with wide discipline representation including ex-RAE panel members.  It is envisaged that the review process itself will vary from College to College to take account of discipline-specific differences and the variety of tools available, including bibliometrics, in some research areas.   

College Assessment Panels are currently being formed and Colleges will be in contact directly to provide additional information to their staff.

Whilst review processes will differ, the information available to Colleges will be based on the requirements for REF 2014. College Assessment Panels will be provided with data collated from University systems relating to research income and postgraduate research students as well as examples of impact, esteem and each academic’s top four outputs. 

All data that is pertinent to an individual academic will be made available for checking as early as possible in the process and details of how to access this will be disseminated in the coming weeks.

  • Input from Academic staff

Academic staff will be contacted with a request to identify the four outputs that they consider to be their best. Each academic will also have the opportunity to provide a short statement of support for the output and to estimate the output’s quality rating.

Alongside this, academics will be asked to provide a short statement outlining an example of how their research has made an impact on the economy, society, public policy, culture or quality of life.  This information will be especially useful in allowing Colleges to identify potential case studies for development ahead of REF 2014.

Academics will also be asked to provide details of their indicators of esteem, where available.

  • Use of information gathered via Enlighten

The information relating to outputs, impact and esteem will be collected in a private area of the University’s online repository, Enlighten and will not be publicly visible to other users. The data collected will be used only to facilitate our preparations for the REF. The data will be made available to the University's REF Working Group and College Assessment Panels. The full outcome of mini-REF will be retained by the Office of the Vice-Principal (Research & Enterprise) and each College Research Office may retain the relevant data. Data may also be released to Heads of School or Research Institute Directors and, where relevant, immediate line manager(s) of the assessed staff for the purpose of private feedback to the staff concerned.

  • Further information

A website has been created to provide colleagues with information and resources regarding the developing REF framework and institutional preparations for the mini-REF.  This website can be found at http://www.gla.ac.uk/ref and will be updated as more information becomes available.

The University aims to improve on the outcome of RAE 2008.  The Principal is grateful to staff for their support for Professor Beaumont (Vice-Principal for Research and Enterprise) and the College assessment teams as they conduct the process over the next few months.

For any queries regarding the REF, please contact REFenquiries@glasgow.ac.uk

First published: 18 October 2010

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