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This post was first published on Research Professional on 10 December 2025. Despite word ‘culture’ disappearing, its essence remains, write Karen Stroobants, Yolana Pringle and Elizabeth Gadd At the EU high-level conference on reforming research assessment in Copenhagen last week, one idea stood out: researchers should not have to choose between doing what is best Continue reading "REF 2029 will…
This blog post was first published on the WonkHE Blog on 9 December 2025. Lizzie Gadd and Dan Parsons argue that if AI is to be embedded into REF it should reflect sector values not just technological possibility The long-awaited REF-AI report prompts the sector to imagine an increasingly automated REF, but also leaves several important Continue reading "Before we automate REF there are three…
This piece was originally published on the WonkHE Blog on 7 October 2025. Lizzie Gadd makes the case for embracing People, Culture and Environment and sets out why reverting to REF 2021 would be a mistake On the face of it, I can understand why the REF team have pressed pause on their guidance development Continue reading "The battle for people, culture and environment"
This post was originally published on LinkedIn on 10 June 2024 A persistent anxiety surrounding the assessment of people, culture, and environment (PCE) in the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) is that there is no evidence that an improvement in culture leads to an improvement in ’research excellence’. The worry is that institutions could develop Continue reading "Does a good research…
This post was parallel published on LinkedIn on January 12, 2025. 2024 was the first full year of my new role as Head of Research Culture Assessment at Loughborough University University. Given I’m prone to bouts of heavy thinking, I couldn’t resist pulling together a few thoughts about this time. So if you’re bone-weary Continue reading "Playing changing the game: Reflections on a year in…
Elizabeth Gadd, 10 June 2024 A persistent anxiety surrounding the assessment of people, culture, and environment (PCE) in the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) is that there is no evidence that an improvement in culture leads to an improvement in ’research excellence’. The worry is that institutions could develop an excellent research culture whilst their Continue reading "Does a good…
This post was originally published on the WonkHE blog on 23 November 2023. University rankings need to change to be relevant and useful to today s diverse world of higher education. Elizabeth Gadd offers some friendly advice University rankings are increasingly coming under fire. Yes, critiques of the poor methodologies and perverse impacts of the rankings have long been with us. But Continue…
This piece, co-authored with Matthew Inglis Elizabeth Stokoe, was originally published on Research Professional News on 27 March, 2024. Between the 2014 and 2021 exercises, the Research Excellence Framework increased its focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. For example, the official guidance on preparing environment statements included notes on covering EDI beyond the ‘people’ Continue…
This piece, co-authored with Matthew Inglis Elizabeth Stokoe, was originally posted on the LSE Impact blog on 27 February 2024 As Research England considers increasing the weighting of environment statements to 25% in REF2029, there is a heightened focus on what exactly constitutes a high-quality statement. Based on a textual analysis of REF 2021 Continue reading "How to write a “good” REF…
This blog was originally posted on the LSE Impact blog on 24 January 2024 In our efforts to better ‘measure what matters’ in higher education, attention increasingly turns to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a way to define ‘what matters’ and to frame assessments accordingly. Many institutions are embedding the SDGs in their strategies Continue reading "How efforts to…