REF 2029 planning

What is the Research Excellence Framework (REF)?

The REF is a national assessment of the quality of UK higher education research in all disciplines. It is managed by four UK higher education funding bodies and assesses research quality through three areas. In 2029, these will be:

Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU): Replaces the Outputs element from REF2021. It primarily assesses research outputs and will also include evidence of wider contributions to the development of a discipline
Engagement and Impact (E&I): Broadens the impact element to consider both engagement and impact through impact case studies and an accompanying disciplinary statement
People, Culture and Environment (PCE): Expands the environment element to assess both institutional and disciplinary level research culture.

What is the purpose of REF?

The REF has three main aims:

To inform the allocation of block-grant research funding. REF facilitates the annual distribution of around 拢2 billion to HEIs.
Provide accountability for public investment in research. REF ensures transparency and accountability for public research funding, providing evidence of the benefits of this investment to the UK and global economy and society.
Provide insight into the health of research in HEIs. By capturing a wide range of research activities across institutions, REF 2029 will offer insights into the state of UK research and provide opportunities for better practice and support the development of the sector as it adapts to new global change and challenges.

on the Research England website.

Each submission to the REF is broken into 34 Units of Assessment (UOAs). These are categorised into one of the four Main Panels. A mixture of academic and industry specialists assess the submissions for each UOA.

Main Panel A: Medicine, health and life sciences
Main Panel B: Physical sciences, engineering and mathematics
Main panel C: Social sciences
Main Panel D: Arts and humanities

At 伊人直播app, each UOA is assigned a UOA Lead who coordinates the REF submission for their unit alongside the central REF Team.

What is a UOA Lead?

Working in partnership with RDLs, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellors for Research, and professional services, UOA Leads provide leadership for UOA preparations for submission to the REF. Individually and as part of a community, they contribute to the delivery of an optimum submission for UOAs and the University as a whole. UOA Leads have responsibility for the development, guidance, training, submission and post-submission duties of their Unit鈥檚 REF submission.

REF Timeline

Research England works to a timeline from the beginning of the REF cycle to submission. Key milestones include the finalisation of guidance, submission deadline and assessment phase, and the publication of results in 2029.

Key changes from REF 2021

REF 2029 has undergone a number of changes to ensure that the assessment is robust and develops according to sector needs. While the final REF 2029 guidelines remain to be confirmed, key changes are summarised below.

Staff

REF 2029 removes the requirement to submit individual staff. Instead, staff volume (FTE) will be calculated using HESA data (from 2026-28), based on eligibility for significant responsibility for research and independent research.

What this means for

Researchers: your research activity still contributes to the overall staff volume which may affect how many outputs and impact case studies your UOA will be required to submit
UOA Leads: monitoring staff eligibility and working with the REF Team, HR, and Research Intelligence to ensure accurate HESA data. Working with researchers and Heads of Schools to strategically plan staff contracts and research roles
Heads of School: Strategic workforce planning between teaching and research to ensure that staff contracts reflect research expectations and provide support for research activity.

Output decoupling

Outputs will not be attributed to individual members of staff in REF 2029. As in REF 2021, the number of outputs required will be 2.5 x staff volume FTE. Outputs solely authored by PhD students or teaching-only staff are not eligible for submission.

What this means for

Researchers: Focus on producing high-quality outputs that meet the REF 2029 eligibility criteria and work with the Library's Open Access Team to ensure these are uploaded to
UOA Leads: Ensure outputs meet eligibility criteria and that selections are well-documented on the REF Tool
Heads of School: Encouraging and supporting activity towards a strong research culture, including output generation across the School.

Engagement and Impact

The previous 2* underpinning research requirement is no longer in place. Impact now includes engagement, highlighting a broader acknowledgement of the applications of research outside of HEIs. A new criterion of 鈥榬igour鈥� has been introduced, but this is still be to clarified. Case studies can be authored by a broader range of contributors, including PGR students and research-enabling staff.

What does this mean for

Researchers: Engage with the Impact Team at early-project stage to ensure you have the necessary processes and tools to run a successful impact project. Make sure to also highlight any public engagement work too, as this is now eligible for REF submission in an Impact Case Study and may be used in the Unit-level narrative section
UOA Leads: Work with the Impact Team and your Impact Development Manager to identify and support both high-priority and pipeline projects. Encourage researchers to regularly update their Impact Project Planners
Heads of School: Supporting and championing engagement and impact activity in your School.

Narrative elements

Environment statements are replaced by disciplinary-level structured questionnaires which will entail a more detailed reporting on research culture and strategy.

What this means for

Researchers: Be aware of and get involved in broader research culture activities occurring at both local and institutional level. Your contributions to research culture may be reflected in the narrative.
UOA Leads: Shaping your UOA narrative by gathering evidence of disciplinary strengths and examples of research culture activities. UOA Leads across multiple Divisions will need to coordinate across these to produce a cohesive narrative.
Heads of School: School-wide strategies and initiatives will feed into and provide a basis for the narrative, particularly around developing a positive research culture.

How is REF Managed at 伊人直播app?

伊人直播app鈥檚 REF submission is managed by the REF Planning Group. There are four workstreams, each led by two Associate Pro-Vice Chancellors for Research (APVCs) covering Outputs, Impact, Systems, and the Institutional Statement.

Click here to contact the REF Team