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Category Archives: REF
Do you know Excellence when you see it?
Politicians toss around phrases like ‘levelling up’ and ‘build back better’, not to mention ‘freedom of speech’, with gay abandon. Such words sound so positive and authoritative, what could be the problem? As many people have pointed out, however, there … Continue reading
Posted in bias, careers, ERC, grant-giving panels, Matthew effect, REF, Research, Science Funding
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Measurements: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Measuring us seems endemic to academic life now (as indeed to the NHS or local Councils or any other part of our civic society). The Forum for Responsible Research Metrics is charged with coming up with ways to use metrics … Continue reading
Posted in KEF, metrics, REF, Research, Science Culture, TEF, The Metric Tide
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Being Stern about Portability
Most people seem to think the Stern Review of the REF (Building on Success and Learning from Experience), published today, has done a fine job, with (if my Twitter stream is to be believed) the exception of the issue of … Continue reading
Posted in ECRs, Lord Stern, REF, Research, research outputs
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Light Touch Metrics?
In the summer metrics looked like they had been substantially laid to rest for the Higher Education sector: The Metric Tide report, written at the behest of the (probably the about-to-be-late-lamented) HEFCE took many pages to point out that metrics … Continue reading
Posted in James Wilsdon, REF, Sajiv Javid, Science Culture, TEF
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A Basketful of Metrics?
For those who were involved with any aspect of REF2014, it had similarities to a slow speed nightmare. For those embroiled in preparing the submissions, not only was it extremely, ridiculously time-consuming, but it was also a heavy burden of … Continue reading
Posted in HEFCE, James Wilsdon, REF, Research
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Debating the role of metrics in research assessment
I spent all of today attending the “In metrics we trust?” workshop organised jointly by HEFCE and the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University. It was an open session that was part of the information-gathering process of HEFCE’s … Continue reading
Posted in HEFCE, metrics, REF, Research Assessment, science, Scientific Life
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The REF: what is the measure of success?
Science has been extraordinarily successful at taking the measure of the world, but paradoxically the world finds it extraordinarily difficult to take the measure of science — or any type of scholarship for that matter. That is not for want … Continue reading
Posted in Assessment, impact factor, REF, Scientific Life
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Seasonal Lists (and the REF)
The end of the year is, by custom, the time for lists. Lists of best (or worst) photos, opening book sentences, or celebrity fashion faux pas; lists of those who died or those who made their film/book/TV/sporting debuts. Think of … Continue reading
Posted in New Year, REF, Science Culture, twitter
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Why I Can’t Write Anything Funny about the REF
It’s the silly season, a time of year when many people are on holiday and usually big news tends to be in short supply other than the the annual excitement over A level grades. (Mind you, not so this year, when … Continue reading
Posted in environment template, impact case studies, REF, Research, Science Funding
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Muddled Mess or Merely Work in Progress?
What do our surroundings say about us? If we choose to work in an office strewn with bits of paper, open files, journals and other debris, is this a testament to the fact our minds are on higher things and … Continue reading
Posted in desks, offices, REF, Research, Science Culture
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