In June the four Higher Education Funding Bodies, including Research England, published the initial decisions on the 2028 Research Excellence Framework (REF).
Central to the package of reforms proposed is an increased weighting for the People, Culture and Environment element. The Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding remains the most heavily weighted and will assess a similar volume of research outputs as in REF 2021. We proposed that the assessment of the new People, Culture and Environment element will be based on a tight and structured format mixing quantitative and qualitative evidence, appropriately contextualised.
It was pleasing to see the many positive responses to our proposals and the thoughtful and constructive challenges in some areas. A number of aspects of the REF 2028 proposals are currently the subject of an open consultation, and we are looking forward to considering input on those matters after our current consultation closes in October.
As we have engaged and discussed the proposals with the higher education sector, some issues have been raised that are not covered in the formal consultation. Amongst these are concerns about the People, Culture and Environment element, and the balance of its weighting compared to the Contribution of Knowledge and Understanding element, as well as the extent to which we can develop robust indicators to allow the fair assessment of research environment in the time available. Some have questioned whether it is appropriate or beneficial to include a broader consideration of the research environment in the assessment. We have also heard that there are some specific worries about how institutions may ‘game’ the proposed approach.
