BU Research Blog

Welcome to the REF section of the BU Research Blog!

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) has replaced the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) as the new process for assessing the volume and quality of research in UK HEIs. As with the RAE, the results of the REF will determine the annual quality-related research (QR) grant distributed from HEFCE to HEIs in England.

The REF will assess research excellence through a process of expert review, informed by indicators where appropriate. It is based on HEIs submitting evidence of their research activity and outcomes to units of assessment (UOAs) to be assessed by expert panels.

The REF will focus on assessing three elements, which together reflect the key characteristics of research excellence (weightings for REF 2014 in brackets):

• The quality of research outputs (65%)
• The reach and significance of the impact of research (20%)
• The vitality of the research environment (15%)

Each of these elements will be assessed against appropriate criteria for excellence, and rated by expert panels on a five-point scale ranging from 4* (excellent, world-leading) to Unclassified.

The REF assessment period started on 1st January 2008 and the first REF submission took place in November 2013, with the results due to be published in December 2014.

Bournemouth University submitted to eight UOAs and you can find out more about the research undertaken in these UOAs here: http://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/ref/