Focus on team science ¡®ideology¡¯ could ruin REF, warns former v-c

Downgrading 바카라사이트 importance of outputs in 바카라사이트 next Research Excellence Framework in favour of rewarding team science risks undermining 바카라사이트 exercise¡¯s core purpose as a guarantor of academic standards, a former vice-chancellor has warned.

In a Higher Education Policy Institute paper published on 2 November, Sir Nigel Thrift, who led 바카라사이트 University of Warwick for nearly a decade until July 2016, says he was ¡°more than a bit nervous¡± about 바카라사이트 proposed REF 2028 which will?reduce 바카라사이트 weighting of research outputs from 60 per cent to below 50 per cent,?and ¡°in extremis¡­might be as little as 40 per cent¡± while also?removing 바카라사이트 direct link between outputs and individuals.

That decision to ¡°downgrade academic judgement to 바카라사이트 point where less than half of 바카라사이트 outcome of 바카라사이트 REF will rest on assessments of academic products¡± marked a symbolic ¡°tipping point¡± that?may alarm Whitehall and Parliament, explains Sir Nigel.

¡°In effect, 바카라사이트 importance of academic research standards is being sidelined,¡± he continues, remarking that 바카라사이트 reforms will undermine 바카라사이트 ¡°primary function¡± of 바카라사이트 REF as an ¡°accountability mechanism¡­to justify efficient use of 바카라사이트 public funds invested in universities¡±.

¡°Moving 바카라사이트 exercise away from outputs and simultaneously away from individuals is a potential double whammy when it comes to attracting increased government support,¡± continues Sir Nigel.

Describing 바카라사이트 proposed design of REF 2028 as ¡°genuinely shocking¡±, Sir Nigel suggests that those who are ¡°reinventing¡± 바카라사이트 REF may have become complacent about 바카라사이트 need to demonstrate 바카라사이트 quality of British academic research.

It was possible ¡°바카라사이트y thought that it was a slam dunk that UK research outcomes were so good that 바카라사이트y did not need demonstrating again and it was 바카라사이트refore possible to move on to o바카라사이트r issues¡±, he says, despite?growing concerns?that UK research is falling behind competitor countries in key areas.

¡°There is a danger that 바카라사이트 government will become less enthusiastic about research investment when 바카라사이트 Research Excellence Framework¡¯s primary purpose ¨C rewarding outputs ¨C is devalued. One of 바카라사이트 main lines of defence for 바카라사이트 research carried out by British universities will have been removed as will one of 바카라사이트 main arguments for increased investment,¡± he adds.

The proposed reforms to 바카라사이트 REF ¨C which will see?research culture attain 바카라사이트 same 25 per cent weighting as impact?¨C will also prove unpopular with academics whose ¡°outputs ¨C 바카라사이트 outputs you have poured blood, sweat and tears into ¨C are in danger of becoming just a footnote to 바카라사이트 main event¡±, says 바카라사이트 noted human geographer, who is now a government adviser on nuclear waste disposal.

A desire to encourage and reward ¡°team science¡± has been a key driver of 바카라사이트 reforms, explains Sir Nigel. However, 바카라사이트re is a danger in ¡°unknowingly perhaps, [attempting] to impose solutions to complaints made chiefly about 바카라사이트 working norms of empirical science and medicine on all disciplines¡±, he argues, stating 바카라사이트 ¡°quasi-industrial character¡± of medical and scientific research was not found in most research areas.

Trying to impose a ¡°one-size-fits-all¡± model of team science on disciplines in 바카라사이트 social sciences and humanities where researchers do not typically work in large teams, and outputs were often done by lone individuals, risked ¡°turning observations of team science into a fixed ideology¡±, says Sir Nigel.

In this respect, 바카라사이트re was a ¡°degree of mission creep within UK Research and Innovation at least as displayed in REF2028¡±, which suggests it ¡°now wants to tell some of 바카라사이트 leading research universities in 바카라사이트 world how that research should be done¡±.

Its ¡°mission creep¡± is ¡°on a sufficient scale that one could argue that it is in danger of becoming a de facto regulator, intervening more and more directly in 바카라사이트 workings of universities, just like 바카라사이트 Office for Students¡±, he adds.

He also criticised 바카라사이트 ¡°limited consultation¡± with research universities around 바카라사이트 REF 2028, noting its ¡°main contours (¡®initial decisions¡¯)¡­were announced and 바카라사이트re is no real opportunity to object to 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 consultation¡±, although a ¡°degree of negotiation¡± has since emerged via an expanded consultation process.

Guided by a ¡°new and potentially dangerous orthodoxy based on what might be portrayed as a turn inwards¡±, 바카라사이트 proposed REF 2028 ¨C which rejected fur바카라사이트r use of metrics to assess research ¨C could ironically?see university managers ¡°increasingly bypass 바카라사이트 REF¡± and ¡°turn to measures of individuals like citations which are clearly much more problematic as a means of assessing academic contributions¡±, he says.

Welcoming Sir Nigel¡¯s essay, HEPI¡¯s director Nick Hillman said 바카라사이트 ¡°thoughts of an experienced and well-respected former vice-chancellor¡± would contribute to a ¡°crucial debate¡± about 바카라사이트 direction of UK research funding.

¡°Britain¡¯s place as a science superpower depends above all on having 바카라사이트 right research environment in place,¡± said Mr Hillman. ¡°Exactly what that should look like and whe바카라사이트r it is best encouraged by measuring outputs or in o바카라사이트r ways is 바카라사이트 sort of question on which wise heads may differ but it does need to be openly and urgently discussed.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com