Demonstrating excellence

Director of Strategic Planning Michelle Coupland talks about the new Research Excellence Framework (REF) and what it means to the College.

With departments preparing to demonstrate the quality of their research through the new Research Excellence Framework, Reporter caught up with Director of Strategic Planning, Michelle Coupland, to find out more about the new system and what it means to the College.

What is REF?

REF is the exercise that is used to assess the quality of research in UK universities – it is used by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to determine the research funding we get from them.

How does it differ from the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)?

The main difference between REF and RAE is that there is a new requirement to demonstrate and measure the impact of research.

Why is REF important for Imperial?

Aside from the funding impact, we have always done well in previous research assessment processes so it is vital for our reputation. The results of REF will affect whether people want to work or study at the College.

What is the code of practice for REF?

All higher education institutions making submissions to REF are required to have a code of practice which governs the processes to determine which staff will be included in the REF. The code contains information about how, and by whom, the decisions will be made, how the College will communicate those decisions and how submission patterns will be monitored.

What are the key milestones for REF?

Academic staff must be in post on 31 October 2013 in order to be considered for inclusion in the REF submission. We will return our submission to HEFCE on 29 November 2013. During 2014 the assessment panels will meet and we’ll hear the results in December 2014.

• Read more information on REF