UK funding councils ask universities for views on REF

The four UK university funding councils have asked institutions to provide feedback on their experiences of the Research Excellence Framework.

In a letter sent on 18 March, the councils asked for feedback from a “strategic perspective” from all universities that took part in the 2014 REF exercise. The feedback will form a core part of the overall assessment of the REF and will inform any refinements in the future, the letter says.

Universities are also asked to include their views on the definition of impact in the REF, which will become part of a separate, independent evaluation of impact in the REF. The first stage of this assessment—preparing impact case study submissions—is underway, and the second stage will look at the assessment of impact. The outcomes of this evaluation will be reported in 2015.