1. Towards Excellence in Research: Achievements and Visions of Re@WBC
Extending UK Universities Excellence in Research to Universities in Balkan
Prof Dobrila Petrovic, Coventry University, UK
University of Belgrade, Serbia, 10th-11th September, 2018

2. Overview Managing Research in UK Universities
Research Excellence with Impact in UK
Research xcellence Framework REF 2021 in UK
Open-Access

3. Managing Research in UK Universities

4. Research Development Unit
Supports the development of the research culture, capability,
portfolio, income pipeline and profile within
Research Centres/Institutes.
The value to researchers: ​
·         increased research income ·         increased success rate ·         raised profile and reputation of the research centres ·         maximised impact of research

5. Research Funding Unit Responsible for bid development,
building relationships with quality funding bodies and
providing expert advice on funding bodies / organisations,
their rules and their application processes.

6. Research Finance and Compliance Unit
Responsible for:
Project financial statements and operations 
​Funder compliance

7. Research Management and Administration Unit
To assist researchers successfully achieve their project objectives
within budget, to specification and to schedule,
and with impact (to make a positive contribution to REF 2021).

8. Research Excellence Unit
Responsible for co-ordinating University-wide systems and
processes in support of research excellence,
ensuring that the necessary targets are met and
that the relevant data are collected,
working towards a high-quality future REF submission. 

9. Do we publish in the right places?
How many PhD completions we should have?
Research ‘esteem’ factors
Review panels, visiting Professor, Invited conference speaker
Building networks
Enhancing the institutional understanding of impact, and how to capture it
Dissemination is not impact!
How do we roll out Open Access effectively
Most outputs to next REF will have to meet OA rules

10. Research Excellence with Impact
“Excellence” is defined as a combination of
originality, significance and rigour
Measured through metrics which include
the number of research outputs (publications) and citations
“Impact” is auditable economic, social, cultural, policy-influencing or
practice-enhancing depending on the discipline(s) involved.

11. Research Impact
‘For the purposes of the REF, impact is defined as an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia’ (HEFCE)
'the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy‘ (RCUK).

12. Research Excellence with Impact
Big projects vs small projects
Applied research vs theoretical research
Industrial collaborator vs without industrial collaboration

13. What is REF – Research Excellence Framework?
REF is an assessment of UK universities’ research – 2014, 2008, 2001…
Next REF scheduled for 2021
In REF2014, universities submitted their research in one or more of 36 areas of research, or ‘Units of Assessment’

15. What is evaluating in REF2021
Outputs
Impact Case Studies
Environment
Will be expanded to include sections on interdisciplinary research, collaboration, open access and equality and diversity
Units of Assessment
Assessment
The same five-point scale used for scoring in REF2014 will remain (U-4*)
Metrics and citation data may be used to inform assessment of outputs

16. In REF 2014 Coventry University submitted to 9
UoA3 Allied Health, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy
UoA4 Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
UoA7 Earth Systems and Environmental Science
UoA10 Mathematical Sciences
UoA11 Computer Science and Informatics
UoA15 General Engineering
UoA19 Business and Management
UoA21 Politics and International Studies
UoA34 Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

17. Outputs – originality, significance and rigour
The extent to which the output introduces a new way of thinking about a subject, or is distinctive or transformative compared with previous work in an academic field
Significance
Academic significance – influencing academic thinking and/or practice, developing new academic concepts
Rigour
Was the methodological approach taken appropriate, e.g. qualitative or quantitative; was just one approach used or more than one? Is it using the most rigorous approach possible, or just a routine method?

18. What is research impact?
An effect, change or benefit to PROCESSES, PLACES, PEOPLE

19. What is research impact?
Improved risk management
A social enterprise has been created
Changes to legislation or regulations
Enhanced technical standards or protocols
Jobs have been created or protected
A new product has been commercialised

20. Open-Access OA policies and REF
“Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge,
and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. ”
OA policies and REF
All journal articles and conference proceedings submitted to the next REF must be openly available
Author accepted manuscripts and metadata should be deposited in the repository within three months of acceptance.
Extra credit given for making other types of output openly available

21. Gold or Green?
Gold OA - publishing directly in an open access journal or with an open access publisher that provides immediate free access. There may be fee associated with this option.
Green OA (or self archiving) - Authors publish in a journal and then deposit a version of the article for free in their institutional or subject repository