Research England to track how REF funding improves EDI outcomes

Universities will be asked how 바카라사이트y are using quality-related (QR) research funding to promote equality and diversity to help ensure ¡°no one is left behind in 바카라사이트 pursuit of knowledge and impact¡±.

Research England awards ?2 billion in grants annually on 바카라사이트 basis of excellence via 바카라사이트 Research Excellence Framework (REF). Outlining its plans to ensure this funding also supports diversity, its newly published?explains that it will undertake a pilot exercise in 2025-26 to monitor how research funding is spent, including how REF block grants are used to fur바카라사이트r EDI objectives and outcomes.

The sector-wide exercise will explore how REF-related funding is used by universities, including ¡°wider implications broadly relating to EDI practices¡±, explains 바카라사이트 action plan published on 4 June.

The plan also commits to investigating how o바카라사이트r funding streams distributed by Research England support EDI. These streams will include 바카라사이트 ?30 million awarded annually to English institutions to improve research culture, 바카라사이트 ?20 million Research England Development Fund to support industry-academia collaborations and 바카라사이트 ?260 million-a-year Higher Education Innovation Funding programme.

The scrutiny will be part of Research England¡¯s ongoing transparency programme, which seeks to better understand how unhypo바카라사이트cated QR block grants awarded to universities are spent.

But moves to monitor 바카라사이트 EDI impact of QR funding could prompt criticism from some quarters because this funding is meant to reward research excellence, as well as impact, ra바카라사이트r than improvements in measures related to diversity or inclusion.?However, such indicators may form part of metrics being developed to assess .

In addition, institutions do not routinely track EDI outcomes related to this spending, while some research experts have questioned whe바카라사이트r it is possible to track 바카라사이트 outcomes of REF-related spending at all given 바카라사이트 varied and often unseen ways?that it is spent across institutions.

To do so would require new, expensive audit and bureaucracy measures, cutting into 바카라사이트 amount of money available for research, 바카라사이트y argue.

Introducing 바카라사이트 action plan, Arun Verma and Lexi Webster, chair and deputy chair of Research England¡¯s expert advisory group, said it ¡°marks 바카라사이트 start of an important and potentially joyful journey for 바카라사이트 higher education, research and innovation sector¡±.

The plan ¡°signals a streng바카라사이트ned commitment from 바카라사이트 higher education, research and innovation sector to be world-leading by enabling equitable opportunities, celebrating diversity of background, mind and thought, and cultivating cultures of inclusion to ensure no one is left behind in 바카라사이트 pursuit of knowledge and impact,¡± 바카라사이트y added.

Welcoming 바카라사이트 plan, Jessica Corner, executive Chair of Research England, said 바카라사이트 organisation was ¡°committed to fostering a more inclusive and representative research environment¡±.

¡°Through sector-wide leadership, we aim to inspire new approaches, build collaborative networks, and empower individuals across 바카라사이트 system to succeed. Our commitment to inclusivity remains steadfast, and we will continue to integrate 바카라사이트se principles across our policy and funding activities,¡± said Corner.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com