Open letter on Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029
This letter will be sent to relevant ministers, the UKRI board and heads of research councies. A shorter version may also be sent for publication in the press and may be edited for concision and style.
Research Excellence Framework (REF)
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the mechanism by which UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) allocates around £2 billion a year in research funding to academic institutions via a block grant known as ‘Quality-related Research’ (QR) funding. The REF is a powerful tool shaping the incentives that universities face. Research England’s proposed changes to the REF for 2029 seek to extend the scope of the REF beyond the assessment of the quality of research. The introduction of a ‘People, Culture and Environment’ (PCE) section, weighted at 25%, will weaken the link between research quality and REF performance.
The pilot indicators proposed to assess PCE suggest that higher education institutions will be saddled with a cumbersome assortment of criteria which seek to control how institutions are run, rather than rewarding research excellence. The indicators provide perverse incentives for universities to introduce administrative and reporting practices with a very poor evidence base. The assessment framework includes a number of criteria whose merit might be legitimately debated such as membership of the Athena Swan scheme and the Race Equality Charter, the creation of safe spaces and the inclusion of EDI activities in the promotion process. This suggests that Research England has pre-judged some approaches as ‘best practice’ when they are in fact contentious.
No coherent justification has been provided for attempting to measure (certain dimensions of) research environments directly rather than focussing on research quality. No rigorous evidence base has been provided for the pilot PCE indicators and there is no suggestion that the pilot exercise will provide such evidence.
These proposals pose serious risks to research integrity and quality, to academic freedom and to institutional autonomy and diversity. They will also lead to an unwanted increase in unproductive university bureaucracy at the expense of practical support for staff. At a time of great economic difficulty for higher education, tying the hands of institutions in ways which will constrain innovation is unhelpful. Research England has not consulted meaningfully with the academic community and its decision making has been far from transparent.
The attached briefing document explains our concerns in detail.
We urge ministers and UKRI to look closely at these proposals and consider whether they are fit for purpose and support the proper priorities of universities and funding bodies.
Document date: 28/04/2025
Signatories
Professor Alice Sullivan, Chair LUCAF
Professor of Sociology, UCL
Professor Ian Pace, Secretary, LUCAF
Professor of Music, Culture and Society, City St George’s, University of London
Edward Skidelsky, Director, Committee for Academic Freedom
Lecturer in philosophy, University of Exeter
Professor Lucinda Platt OBE FAcSS
Professor of Social Policy and Sociology, LSE
Professor Dennis Hayes
Director, Academics For Academic Freedom
William Mackesy
Founder, Alumni for Free Speech;
Professor Lee Jones
Professor of Political Economy and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London
Daniel Rodger
Senior Lecturer in Perioperative Practice, London South Bank University
Professor James Martin
Goldsmiths, University of London
Professor Chris Brown
Emeritus Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics
Professor Clifford Lam
Professor of Statistics, LSE
Professor Michael Stewart
Dept Anthropology, UCL
Professor Johannes Ruf
Professor in Mathematics, LSE
Professor David Collins
The City Law School, City St George's, University of London
Professor Francis Green
Professor of Work and Education Economics, UCL
Professor Kai Möller
Law School, LSE
Professor Kenneth D. Harris
Professor of Quantitative Neuroscience, University College London
Professor Steven Connor FBA
King's College, London
Prof Michael Ben-Gad
Professor of Economics, City St George's, University of London
Dr Bella Vivat
Principal Research Fellow, UCL
Dr Lawrence Patihis, PhD, CPsychol
Psychology, University of Portsmouth
Dr Shereen Benjamin
Senior Lecturer in Primary Education, University of Edinburgh
Dr Vanessa Pupavac
University of Nottingham
Dr Prakash Shah
Reader in Culture and Law, Queen Mary University of London
Professor David Paton
Chair of Industrial Economics, Nottingham University Business School
Michelle Shipworth, LUCAF founder member
Associate Professor in Energy & Social Sciences, University College London
Professor Lesley Gourlay
Professor of Education, University College London
Prof Bianca L De Stavola
Emerit Professor of Medical Statistics
Dr Jennie Bristow
Reader in Sociology, Canterbury Christ Church University
Professor Jon Pike
Professor of Philosophy, The Open University
Professor Jo Phoenix
University of Reading, School of Law
Professor David Campbell
Professor of Law, Lancaster University Law School
Professor Norman Fenton
Emeritus Profesor of Risk, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Andrew Bennett
Professor of English, University of Bristol
Dr Ruth Mieschbuehler
Senior Lecturer in Education Studies, University of Derby
Dr Scott McLachlan GDL, LL.M, MPhil(Sc)
Lecturer in Digital Technologies for Healthcare, King's College London
Professor Alex Bremner
University of Edinburgh
Dr Ian Petrow
Associate Professor of Mathematics, University College London
Professor Adam Swift
Professor of Political Theory, Department of Political Science, University College London
Professor Matthew Ratcliffe
Professor of Philosophy, University of York
Asen Ivanov
Reader in Economics, Queen Mary University of London
Timothy Bates, Ph.D
Professor of individual differences in psychology, University of Edinburgh
Chris Hamnett
Emeritus Professor of Geography, King’s College London
Professor Bob Bowie NTF FHEA
Director of NICER, Canterbury Christ Church University
Ian J. Deary OBE FBA FMedSci FRSE
Professorial Fellow in Psychology, University of Edinburgh
Sir Gregory Winter, CBE, FRS (Nobel Naureate)
Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr Hannah R. Marston
The Open University
Professor Alun Hughes
University College London
Professor David Abulafia CBE FBA
University of Cambridge; President, Pharos Foundation
Professor Ann Oakley
Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, UCL
Professor Nishi Chaturvedi OBE
Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, University College London
Professor Peter Ramsay
London School of Economics
Professor Martin Loughlin FBA
Law School, LSE
Professor Steven Courtney DFBelmas
University of Manchester
Professor Philip Schofield
Director of the Bentham Project, University College London
Professor John Hyman
Grote Professor of Philosophy of Mind and Logic, UCL
Dr Ruth McGinity
Associate Professor, UCL
Tak Wing Chan
Professor of Quantitative Social Science, UCL
David Owens
Professor of Philosophy, Kings College London
Dr Saladin Meckled-Garcia
Associate Professor in Human Rights and Political Theory, University College London
Professor Sarah Pedersen
Professor of Communication and Media, Robert Gordon University
Prof. Yan Fyodorov
Department of Mathematics, King's College London
Professor Rachel Bowlby FBA
Professor of Comparative Literature Emeritus, UCL
Professor Ronan McCrea
Professor of Constitutional and European Law, UCL
Dr Jonathan Rogers
Clinical Lecturer in General Adult Psychiatry, University College London
Professor Jonathan Hearn
University of Edinburgh
Professor Stephen Warren
Imperial College London
Professor Alan Sokal
Professor of Mathematics, University College London
Professor Martin Anthony
London School of Economics
Professor Thomas Prosser
Professor of European political economy, Cardiff University
Dr Soljana Çili
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of the Arts London
Professor Carlo Marinelli
Department of Mathematics, University College London
Dr. Anna Maltsev
Queen Mary University of London
Professor Michael Rainsborough
Deakin University (formerly, King's College London)
Dr Paul Schweizer
Senior Lecturer, School of Informatics, Universitty of Edinburgh
Professor Emyr Macdonald
Cardiff University
Professor Stephen P. Jenkins
Professor of Economic and Social Policy, LSE
Gemma Moss
Professor of Literacy, University College London
Cathy Devine
Independent Scholar
Professor Gale Macleod
University of Edinburgh
Professor Sir Stephen O'Rahilly MD FRS
Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine, University of Cambridge
Antonio Vidal-Puig
University of Cambridge
Dr Clemence Blouet
University of Cambridge
Professor Roman Hovorka
University of Cambridge
Professor Paul Lehner FRS
Professor of Immunology, University of Cambridge
Professor David Rubinsztein FRS
Professor of Molecular Neurogenetics, University of Cambridge
Professor Michael Weekes BEM
Professor of Viral Immunology, Cambridge University
Professor Mark L Evans FRCP
Professor of Diabetic Medicine, University of Cambridge
Simon Fanshawe
Diversity Consultant and Author
Prof David Savage
University of Cambridge
Dr Albert Koulman
University of Cambridge
Dr Branko Latinkic
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University
Dr Thomas Raymen
Associate Professor of Criminology, Northumbria University
Kathleen Stock OBE
Former Professor of Philosophy at University of Sussex
Dr James Martin Charlton
Playwright and previously Associate Professor of Scriptwriting, Middlesex University
Toby Andrew
Senior Lecturer in Human Genetics, Imperial College London
Professor Kevin Dowd
Durham University Business School
Professor Selina Todd
Professor of Modern History, Oxford University
Professor Ruth Chang AAAS
University of Oxford
Dr. Donna Barnes
Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Practice, University of Derby
Dr Geraldine Barrett
Principal Research Associate, UCL
Benoit Mayer
University of Reading
Professor Anthony R Cox FRPharmS FBPhS
Professor in Clinical Pharmacy and Drug Safety
Professor Simon Goodwin
Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Sheffield
Professor Keith Willison
Professor of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London
Professor Nick P. Franks, FMedSci, FRS
Imperial College London
Professor Ian M Adcock
Imperial College London
Domna Salonen
PhD student, Population Health Sciences
Thomas Pink
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, King’s College London
Professor Paul Elbourne
Professor of the Philosophy of Language, University of Oxford
Professor Laurence Hemming
Lancaster University and Director of the Knapp Foundation
Dr Nathan Skene
Senior Lecturer in Neurogenomics, Imperial College London
Michael Hauskeller
Professor of Philosophy
Professor Matthew H. Kramer FBA
Professor of Legal & Political Philosophy, Cambridge University
Dr. Aaron Turner
Research Associate at Royal Holloway and Assistant Director of the Knapp Foundation
Professor Lars Vinx
Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Cambridge
Professor David Blake
City St George's, University of London
Professor William Wisden FMedSci FRS
Chair in Molecular Neuroscience, Imperial College London
Professor Saul Jacka
Professor of Statistics, Warwick University
Dr Kirsty Bannister
Associate Professor in Pain Neuroscience, Imperial College London
Kenneth Linton
Professor of Protein Biochemistry, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Ian Wilkinson
Alumnus, University of Bolton
Dr. Vijay Tymms
Imperial College London
Professor Murray Smith
Professor of Philosophy, Art, and Film, University of Kent
Prof Jane L Hutton
The University of Warwick
Professor Matt Matravers
Professor of Law, University of York
Dr Sophie Read
University of Cambridge
Dr Emma Hilton
Developmental Biologist, University of Manchester
Professor Chris Watkins
Professor of Machine Learning, Royal Holloway University of London
Dr Matt Sleat
Reader in Political Theory, University of Sheffield
Jim Butcher
Reader, Canterbury Christ Church University
Professor Adam Hedgecoe
Cardiff University
Professor Kath Checkland
Professor of Health Policy and Primary Care, University of Manchester
Professor Patrick Sturgis
London School of Economics
Dr Andre Brown
Imperial College London
Dr Peter Neyroud CBE QPM
Associate Professor in evidence based policing, University of Cambridge
Dr Nazar Miheisi
King's College London
Professor Julian Horton
Professor of Music, Durham University
Sir Bernard Silverman FRS
Emeritus Professor of Statistics, University of Oxford
Professor David Curtis MD PhD FRCPsych
Honorary Professor, University College London
Professor Geoff Bird
University of Oxford and UCL
Dr Andi Q. Wang
Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics, University of Warwick
Maureen O'Hara
Senior Lecturer, Coventry University
Dr Roopal Desai
Clinical Fellow, University College London
Dr Michael Biggs
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Oxford
Dr Katie Alcock
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Lancaster University.
Dr. N. Vittal
Economics, CLIE, University College London
Professor Nick Allum
University of Essex
Dr Sam Parsons
Principal Research Fellow, UCL SRI
Andrew Denis, PhD
Fellow emeritus in political economy, City St George's, University of London
Dr Kate Mackenzie
University of St Andrews
Dr. Kyriakos N. Kotsoglou, LL.M.
Associate Professor in Law, Northumbria University
Professor John Marenbon FBA
Senior Research Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge
Professor Mary Leng
University of York
Dr John Nelson
University of Glasgow
Dr Mary Ondiek
University of the West of Scotland
Professor Eva Moreda Rodriguez
University of Glasgow
Dr Cathryn Meredith
Northumbria University
Professor Jenny Gamble CF
Former Professor of Midwifery, Coventry University
Dr Robert Laverick
Senior Lecturer, Arden University
Professor Danielle Sinnett
University of the West of England
Professor Jonathan A. Jones
Professor of Physics, University of Oxford
Professor Hillel Steiner FBA
Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Manchester
Dr. Luk Vaes
Orpheus Instituut / Leiden University
Professor Steven Greer
University of Bristol Law School
Professor Jane Elliott
London School of Economics
Professor Steve Strand
Professor of Education, University of Oxford
Alexander Weiss, FRSB
University of Edinburgh
Dr John Goldthorpe, CBE, FBA, Hon. FRSS
Emeritus Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford
Professor Paul du Gay
School of Business and Management, Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor Stephen Gorard FAcSS
Durham University
Professor Oriel Sullivan
Professor Emerita of Sociology of Gender, UCL
Dr David McGrogan
Associate Professor in Law, Northumbria University
Beng Huat See
University of Birmingham
Professor Nadia Siddiqui FAcSS , FRSA, FHEA
Professor Education, Durham University Evidence Centre for Education
Professor Dongfang Liang
Professor of Hydrodynamics, University of Cambridge
Jessica Evans
Senior Lecturer in Sociology, The Open University
Professor Lindsay Paterson FBA
Emeritus Professor of Education Policy, University of Edinburgh
Professor Andrew Lawrence
Professor of Psychology, University of Edinburgh
Professor Erzsebet Bukodi
University of Oxford
Professor Chris Taylor FLSW
Cardiff University
Dr Amanda Gosling
School of Economics, Politics and International Relations, University of Kent
Roger Watson FRCN FRCP Edin FAAN
Honorary Professor, University of Hull
Prof Andrew Tettenborn
Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University
Professor Fiona Steele FBA
Department of Statistics, LSE
Professor Christina Perry
Professor of Law, Queen Mary University of London
Geoffrey Grimmett FRS
Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Statistics, Cambridge University
Dr Almut Gadow
Formerly Open University
Professor Alexandra Wilson
Senior Research Fellow in Music, Jesus College, University of Oxford
Professor François Guesnet
Modern Jewish History, University College London
Dr William Astle
University Senior Lecturer, University of Cambridge
Professor Norman Strong
Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Finance, The University of Manchester
Professor Philip Dawid FRS
Emeritus Professor of Statistics, University of Cambridge
Professor James Boardman FRCPCH FMedSci
University of Edinburgh
Dr Julia Jordan
Associate Professor of English, University College London
Professor Nick Megoran
Newcastle University
Professor Antony Galione FRS FMedSci
Professor of Pharmacology, University of Oxford
Dr Geoff Andrews
The Open University
Emeritus Professor Jennifer Wishart FRSE
University of Edinburgh
Dr James Orr
University of Cambridge
Professor Keith Horner
Emeritus Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Imaging, The University of Manchester
Professor Gavin Kelly
University of Edinburgh
Professor Abhishek Saha
Queen Mary University of London
Professor John Papaloizou FRS
Emeritus Professor DAMTP Cambridge
Dr Chris Playford
Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Exeter
David Bann
Professor of Population Health, UCL
Dr Daniel Allington
King's College London
Professor Ione Fine
Professor, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds
Professor Kathy Sylva FBA
Department of Education, University of Oxford
Dr Martin Caminada
Lecturer, Cardiff University
Professor Sir David Clary FRS
Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford
Emeritus Professor Amanda Sacker
Emeritus Professor Amanda Sacker, UCL
Dr Carlton Brick
Lecturer in Sociology, University of the West of Scotland
Professor Anke Karl
University of Exeter
Dr Claudia Jefferies
Senior Lecturer in Economics, City St George’s, University of London
Prof Paul Clarke
Institute for Social & Economic Research
Shalom Lappin, FBA, MAE
Professor of Natural Language Processing, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London
Dr. Fermin Moscoso del Prado Martin
University of Cambridge
Stephen R L Clark
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Liverpool
Professor David Owen
University of Cambridge
Professor Elena Riu
Professor of Piano. The Embodied Performer
Sir Simon Donaldson FRS (Fields Medallist)
Imperial College London
Professor Andrew Davies
Professor of Modern Social History, University of Liverpool
Dr Stephen McLeod
Reader in Philosophy, University of Liverpool
Prof. Alaric Searle
Universität Potsdam, formerly Prof. of Modern European History, University of Salford
Neil Thin
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh
Dr Mikel Burley
Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy, University of Leeds
John Preston
Professor of Philosophy, University of Reading
Julian C Jamison
Professor of Economics, Univ of Exeter
Senia Paseta
Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford
Professor James Warren
University of Cambridge
Dr John Snijders
Associate Professor in Music Performance, Durham University
Dr Edward Howell
Lecturer in International Relations, University of Oxford
Dr Christopher Tarrant
Newcastle University
Professor Nicholas Shackel
Professor of Philosophy, Cardiff University
Professor David J. Hand OBE FBA
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Imperial College London
Dr Hannah Quirk
Reader in Criminal Law, King's College London
243 signatories so far.
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