ISER’s Steve Pudney has been selected together with three other University of Essex professors to be a panel member for the next national assessment of the quality of research in UK universities, the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
The REF, a process of expert review which replaces the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), will be completed in 2014. Co-ordinated on behalf of the four UK funding bodies, it will inform the distribution of research funding to universities.
Expert sub-panels for each of 36 units of assessment (UOAs) will carry out the assessment, working under the guidance of four broad main panels.
The four Essex panellists are Steve Pudney (Economics and Econometrics), David Sanders (Politics and International Studies panel), Eamonn Carrabine (Sociology) and Chris Cooper (Biological Sciences).
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Rob Massara, who has responsibility for Research and Enterprise, said:
“This is hugely important for us and is a recognition of their and the University’s esteem, as judged by peers in their own subjects. Also, as panel members, they gain and can bring back to the University incredibly valuable insights into the processes of REF assessment."
Further information will be published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) during the summer, and Wyvern will provide more details in the autumn.