REF People, Culture and Environment

Photos (left to right): University of Aberdeen, University of the Highlands and Islands, University of Glasgow

The UK REF team has today announced the universities that will participate in its People, Culture and Environment (PCE) pilot exercise. The announcement follows an online applications process that has been in progress since the middle of May.

The pilot exercise will focus on eight of REF 2029’s units of assessment, including computer science and informatics; history; and biological sciences. The panels will be comprised of academics, research professionals and others with appropriate expertise. Panel members will contribute to the development of PCE indicators and submission/assessment templates.

Although the initial plan was for 30 institutions to take part, the list has been extended to include a further 10 universities in order to widen the opportunities for participation and spread the burden of work. The list, which covers the whole of the UK, has been compiled with a view to providing a broad range of submission sizes, breadth of provision and experience of participation in previous REF exercises.

Four Scottish universities are included; Edinburgh Napier University, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the University of Dundee and the University of Glasgow.

There are further opportunities to engage with the development of PCE for REF 2029. The PCE indicators project has recently launched this survey which is open to all with an interest in the assessment of PCE in REF. In addition, next year, when the pilot assessment is underway, the PCE indicators project team will deliver engagement activities to gather input on the developing indicators from the wider sector.

The full list can be viewed on the REF 2029 website.