Dear all,
With the results of the initial REF consultation now out, it may be useful to air some view on how they will impact the Arts and Humanities. What do you think will happen to practice-based outputs in the new REF? What might the potential of non-portable output mean for those practice-research outputs that span more than one iteration, such as performances or touring exhibitions? How might the ‘100% return but you tell us 100% of what’ system for returning staff impact on Arts and Humanities staff and research culture?
The University of Brighton is a post-92 university, and our previous successes in RAE and REF, in Arts and Humanities, was very much based on an inclusive view of research and researchers, a view that valued practice-based contributions from academics on small proportional contracts as much as text-based ones from established full time academics. Counter-intuitively, the requirement to submit 100% staff with significant responsibility for research might endanger this approach, as the idea of teaching-only contracts seems to have taken hold across the sector as a way to rationalise the submission of ‘all but not all’ staff. This will certainly challenge our current research culture.
How do you think Arts and Humanities will be affected in your institution?
