The University of Glasgow has completed its submission to the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF2021). 
   
REF is hugely important to the University in terms of both funding and international reputation.  Over 400 colleagues have been involved in pulling together the submission working across Colleges and involving almost every professional service. Glasgow has submitted 28 Units of Assessment, comprising 1445 staff, 118 impact case studies, 28 Unit-level environment statements and 3300 outputs. 
  
Ensuring our REF submission is of the highest quality is of the utmost importance to the University. The submission is the result of the incredibly hard work of all our researchers and those that support research and impact activities.  
      
The results of REF2021 will be published in Spring 2022. 

Enquiries: ali.howard@glasgow.ac.uk or elizabeth.mcmeekin@glasgow.ac.uk / 0141 330 6557 or 0141 330 4831 

Research Excellence Framework (REF) 

The REF is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The first exercise was carried out in 2014, replacing the previous Research Assessment Exercise. The REF is undertaken by the four UK higher education funding bodies: Research England, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland (DfE). 

The REF is a process of expert review, carried out by expert panels for each of the 34 subject-based units of assessment (UOAs), under the guidance of four main panels. Expert panels are made up of senior academics, international members and research users.  

For each submission, three distinct elements are assessed: the quality of outputs (e.g. publications, performances, and exhibitions), their impact beyond academia and the environment that supports research.  

First published: 25 March 2021

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