Research Assessment Exercise

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Research Assessment Exercise

• Riad Bayoumi

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Research Assessment Exercise

• The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) is a
  periodic national exercise which assesses the
  quality of research.
• The information obtained is used for the
  selective distribution of public funds for
  research by the Institutes of Higher Education
  funding bodies.
• It is also used as a variable in various ranking
  exercises by other national and international
  bodies.

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• The Research Assessment Exercise is conducted
  jointly by the Higher Education Funding Councils
• The primary purpose of the RAE is to produce
  quality profiles for each submission of research
  activity made by research institutions.
• The higher education funding bodies use the
  quality profiles to determine their grants for
  research to the institution which they fund.
• Any Higher Education Institution that is
  eligible to receive research funding from one of
  the funding bodies is eligible to participate in
  the exercise.

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Establishing Excellence

• Qualities of Surprise and Delight
• Transparency of Argument and Evidence
• Commitment to Rigor and Peer Review
• Communication and Dissemination of Standards and
  Examples

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Scholarship

• Is it possible to define the work of faculty in
  ways that reflect more realistically the full
  range of academic and civic mandates?
• the work of the professoriate might be thought
  of as having four separate, yet overlapping,
  functions
• Discovery
• Integration
• Application
• Teaching

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Discovery

• Scholarship that makes a commitment to knowledge
  for its own sake, to freedom of inquiry and to
  following in a disciplined fashion an
  investigation wherever it may lead
• Comes closest to what is usually meant when we
  speak of Research

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Integration

• Scholarship that makes connections across the
  disciplines, in a larger context, at the
  boundaries where fields converge that seeks to
  interpret, draw together, and bring new insight
  to bear on original research
• Interdisciplinary, interpretive, integrative

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Application

• Scholarship that serves the interest of the
  larger community by addressing consequential
  problems bringing knowledge to bear on the
  issues faced by members of the society.
• The communitys issues themselves define the
  agenda for scholarly investigation

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Teaching

• Scholarship using disciplinary methods and
  practice to study and improve student learning
  building on, peer reviewing, and sharing
  knowledge gained through investigation to improve
  teaching and learning.
• Not only transmitting knowledge, but transforming
  and extending it as well.

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The Advancement of Learning
Integration
Discovery
The University
Teaching
Application
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Quality Profile

• The overall quality profile is comprised of the
  aggregate of the weighted profiles produced for
  Research Outputs,
• Research Environment, and
• Esteem Indicators.

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Overall Quality Profile
Research Environment
Esteem
Research Outputs
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Content of Submissions

• RAE Forms
• RA0 Summary information
• RA1 Staff
• RA2 Research outputs
• RA3 Research students studentships
• RA4 Research income
• RA5 Esteem and environment
• RA5b Confidential staff information

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Main Panel

• Co-ordinate criteria for assessment and working
  methods across sub-panels
• Help consistency between sub-panels during the
  assessment phase
• Endorse quality profiles
• Co-ordinate requests for specialist advice
  beyond expertise of the sub-panel
• International members (30)

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Criteria and Consultations

• Internal consistency checks and legal advice
• Published draft criteria and working methods
• Opportunity for subject communities to have
  input to the criteria and working methods for
  their disciplines
• Final criteria
• Finalise and publish

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Overall Quality Profile
Research Environment
Esteem
Research Outputs
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Overall Quality Profile
Research Environment
Esteem
Research Outputs
75
20
5
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75
Research Outputs

• Inclusive approach Refereed jnl articles,
  books, authored/edited, professional/practitioner
  jnls., research reports etc.
  Textbooks/teaching material considered if they
  embody research.
• Normal expectation 4 research outputs/ person/
  year
• Assessed through excellence in
• - originality, significance/impact and rigour
• - all types of research (applied,
  interdisciplinary, practice-based) given equal
  weighting

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Environment

• To include research students and grant income
• Students numbers, studentships and degrees
  awarded
• External research income
• Pattern of grants more important than total value

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Environment

• The institutions vision, strategy, relevant
  update on research Plans
• Mechanisms and practices for promoting research
  and sustaining research culture
• Nature and quality of research infrastructure
• Arrangements for supporting interdisciplinary
  and collaborative research
• Arrangements for collaboration with public,
  private and voluntary sectors, involvement of
  service- users, relationship critical or
  supportive to government policy technology
  transfer and for interactions with end- users
• Approach to developing and supporting staff

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Esteem

• Plenary addresses, prizes, honours and awards,
  editorships, learned society engagement,
  membership of research councils or similar
• Esteem of user community
• Advisor to govt, parlt., voluntary bodies,
  contributions to public service
• International collaborations, visiting research
  posts
• Contributions to academic/professional
  associations

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Overall Quality Profile
Quality Level
of Research Activity
Research Environment
Esteem Indicators
Research Outputs
eg 70
eg 20
eg 10
(Minimum 5)
(Minimum 5)
(Minimum 50)
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Overall Quality Profile
Research Outputs in the public domain, includes
journal articles, monographs, chapters,
conference proceedings, confidential reports,
patents
Quality Level
of Research Activity
Research Environment
Esteem Indicators
Research Outputs
eg 70
eg 20
eg 10
(Minimum 5)
(Minimum 5)
(Minimum 50)
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Overall Quality Profile
Environment may include for example Issues of-
Sustainability and Vitality Strategy Plans,
Research Income, Research Students collaboration
with business/industry
Quality Level
of Research Activity
Research Environment
Esteem Indicators
Research Outputs
eg 70
eg 20
eg 10
(Minimum 5)
(Minimum 5)
(Minimum 50)
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Overall Quality Profile
Esteem Indicators might include Fellowships,
Editorial Board positions, Prizes Prestigious
Grants/Studentships Advisory Roles for
Industry Collective and Individual
Quality Level
of Research Activity
Research Environment
Esteem Indicators
Research Outputs
eg 70
eg 20
eg 10
(Minimum 5)
(Minimum 5)
(Minimum 50)
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RAE in UK

• The first RAE was undertaken in 1986. For the
  first time it introduced an explicit and
  formalized assessment process of the quality of
  research. Further exercises held in 1989, 1992
  and 1996 became gradually more transparent,
  comprehensive and systematic.

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RAE in UK

• The fifth exercise in 2001 was the most rigorous
  and thorough exercise to date. It considered the
  work of almost 50,000 researchers in 2,598
  submissions from 173 IHE. The RAE is the
  principal means by which institutions assure
  themselves of the quality of the research
  undertaken in the HE sector.
• The next RAE is in 2008, with a closing date for
  submissions of November 2007.

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Impact

• Generates further research funding
• Contributes to the research productivity and
  financial support of the researchers
  institution
• Advances the researchers careers
• Promotes research progress

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Impact II

• Note the direct connection between open access,
  impact, research assessment and funding.
• Measures the size of a research contribution to
  further research (publish or perish), e.g.
  citation-counts, co-citations, now we also have
  usage-measures (hits, webmetrics), time-course
  analyses, early predictors, etc.

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Outcome of RAE

• RAE has been effective as a means of
• Informing funding
• Symbolizing Public Accountability
• Inducing improvement in research

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Thank You
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Sub Panels

• Draft criteria for assessment and working methods
• Produce draft quality profiles and brief
  feedback on each submission
• Advise the main panel on cross-referrals and
  need for specialist advice