‌‌‌‌Professor Murray Pittock, Pro-Vice Principal – Special Projects, has been appointed a member of the REF 2021 Institutional Environment Pilot Panel, which will pilot the assessment of the research environment at institution level.‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Murray Pittock, Pro-Vice Principal - Special Projects, profile photograph

The introduction of an Institutional Environment Pilot Panel to REF was made in response to a key recommendation in the 2016 Stern report. It will assess institutional provision in areas such as research strategy, people and infrastructure.

Chaired by Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University, it consists of a mix of senior research leaders with institutional-level responsibilities and expertise, senior researchers engaged with research provision at a national level, those with expertise in the wider use and benefits of research, and those with senior roles in research management.

Information about the institutional-level environment will be provided to the 34 REF sub-panels for context. It will not be scored by the sub-panels, and the pilot assessment will not contribute to the outcomes of REF 2021.

Professor Pittock said: “I am pleased to have become a member of the Institutional Environment Pilot Panel as part of the REF exercise. This will allow me to participate in a process by which the important role of research environment in research outcomes can be assessed at an institutional level in future.”


First published: 7 December 2018