Research managers fear impact skills and systems could go to waste

Research support staff have expressed concerns that UK academics will lose interest in recording their impact now that the submission deadline for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework has passed.

The issue was raised at a conference, After the REF, held in London on 4 March. University research directors, research support officers and academics told participants at the meeting, which was organised by the knowledge transfer network Knowledge London, that institutions were in danger of losing the momentum gained in the run-up to the November 2013 deadline.

As part of the REF, 6,975 impact case studies were submitted, requiring hundreds of hours of work, the recruitment of temporary staff members and the hiring of external experts to edit and write documents.