Communicating the outcomes of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise A presentation to press officers in universities and colleges. Philip Walker, HEFCE Ed Hughes, RAE Manager

Why do we have an RAE? Research quality is assessed every few years through the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) to: allocate research funding as one side of the ‘dual-support system’ provide information on the quality of the research in UK HEIs.

Sources of research income for UK HEIs Total = £5,048 million HE funding bodies £1,672M Research Councils £1,152M UK charities £767M UK government, local, health & hospital authorities £607M UK industry £289M Other grants and contracts £561M Source: HESA Finance Statistics Return

How important is the RAE? For the period covered by the 2001 RAE ( to ) £10.1 billion will be allocated according to the results.

Dual support Public research funds are provided under the dual-support system. The UK funding bodies support the research infrastructure (salaries of permanent academic staff, premises, libraries and central computing costs) The 7 Research Councils provide funding for specific programmes and projects.

Research funding from the four UK funding bodies is allocated selectively Universities with large volumes of high- quality research get a larger share of the money. 29 per cent of research funds goes to 4 HEIs 50 per cent goes to 10 HEIs 75 per cent goes to 23 HEIs.

Distribution of funding bodies’ grants for research (QR) Mainstream QR funds are divided between subject areas (units of assessment). Each subject is assigned one of three cost weights, which have been calculated to reflect the relative costs of research in those subjects. These are multiplied by the volume of research in each subject to work out the total funding for that subject.

About the RAE Funded by the four UK higher education funding bodies (HEFCE, HEFCW, SFC, DEL) All HEIs in the UK that are funded by them can make submissions RAE assesses quality of research in submissions Results inform research funding.

RAE past and present 2008 will be the 6 th RAE since 1986 The last one was in will be the last. From 2009 the Research Excellence Framework (REF) will be introduced.

RAE 2008 vs 2001 Retained: UK wide assessment of research Expert review New: Quality profiles Two-tiered panel structure: 15 main panels, 67 sub-panels.

How the RAE works 1 HEIs make submissions to the subject areas they choose 15 main panels, 67 sub-panels, about 1,000 panel members Submissions made in standard format through web-based data collection system A submission = a complete set of forms returned by an HEI in any of the 67 UOAs.

How the RAE works 2 Each panel has a statement detailing its criteria and working methods All submissions reviewed by expert panels (academic and research users) who make judgements against a ‘quality profile’.

Common set of evidence for all subjects Evidence used in RAE (data provided by submitting HEIs through an online data collection system) Research active staff Research outputs (usually 4 per staff member produced to ) Research students and studentships External research income Research structure and strategies Indicators of esteem.

RAE submissions in % rise in staff over 2001 to 52,472 FTE staff submitted. Number of submissions decreased by 9% to 2,363.

4* Quality that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour. 3* Quality that is internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour but which nonetheless falls short of the highest standards of excellence. 2* Quality that is recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour. 1* Quality that is recognised nationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour. u/c Quality that falls below the standard of nationally recognised work. Definitions of Quality (for all panels)

By percentage of research activity in the submission judged to reach quality standard UOA 19 Physics FTE Cat A Staff submitted for assessment 4*3*2*1* Unclassified University of Poppleton Uttoxeter University RAE Quality Profile (previously a single point score from 1 – 5*) (Overall quality profile in blocks of 5%)

Research outputs Research environmentEsteem indicators 4*3*2*1*u/c *3*2*1*u/c eg 70% Overall Quality Profile 20 4* u/c1*2*3* 4*3*2*1*u/c eg 20%eg 10% The overall quality profile comprises the aggregate of the weighted profiles produced for outputs, research environment and esteem indicators. Quality Level % of Research Activity

Driving up quality of research Strategic management of research Standard assessment across the whole UK Efficient - costs less than 1% (Research Councils 4%). RAE – positive benefits

Sample formats with an example of a quality profile, are available on the HEFCE Extranet for access by V-Cs - also a chance to practice access arrangements. Early Nov - Final panel meetings. RAE – publication timetable 1

Weds 17 Dec: HEI’s own data will be released to each HEI Press conference. Data under embargo till 0001 on Thurs 18 (journalists may approach HEIs for comment after the press conference) - Data in advance to select media subject to strict no-approach and no-publication (eg the THE). -12 noon heads of HEIs will have access to complete results under embargo for limited internal access only Thursday 18 December results go live. RAE – publication timetable 2

Funding discussed at HEFCE Board meetings in January and February. Allocations for using 2008 RAE to be announced in early March. Spring 2008 – submissions made to panels (excluding personal data) will be published. RAE – publication timetable 3

How to find out more RAE web-site pr-hefce mailing list at RAE contact in each university.