Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Georgina Endfield has been appointed co-chair of the Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences panel for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029 pilot exercise on People, Culture and Environment (PCE).
The REF is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education providers. REF 2029 will deliver an expanded definition of research excellence, recognising the wide range of research, roles, and people that are essential to the vitality of the UK’s vibrant research system.
A key part of this expanded definition is the development of the PCE element. Announced in January 2024, the PCE pilot exercise aims to use the findings from the PCE indicators project to explore the practicality of submission and assessment of various elements of PCE. This assessment will be carried out by the PCE pilot panels.
Professor Endfield said: “I am really delighted to have been appointed as a co-chair in the REF PCE pilot. PCE will be an important component of REF 2029 and I am looking forward to working with colleagues in helping to develop appropriate indicators to assess research culture at institutional and subject level”.
More info about the REF
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education providers (HEIs). The REF outcomes are used to inform the allocation of around £2 billion per year of public funding for universities’ research.
The REF was first carried out in 2014, replacing the previous Research Assessment Exercise. Research England manages the REF on behalf of all four UK higher education funding bodies:
- Research England
- Scottish Funding Council
- Medr, Wales’ Commission for Tertiary Education and Research
- Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland
The funding bodies’ shared policy aim for research assessment is to secure a world-class, dynamic and responsive research base across the full academic spectrum within UK higher education.