How will interdisciplinarity be assessed in 바카라사이트 REF?

The increasing importance of interdisciplinarity in 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research excellence framework went largely unmentioned amid 바카라사이트 disappointment over 바카라사이트 failure of 바카라사이트 funding bodies¡¯ document?, published last month, to resolve issues over portability of outputs and numbers of submissions.

But it should not be overlooked. In 2021, interdisciplinary research will be assessed ¡°as a discrete section¡± of 바카라사이트 research environment, and every assessment subpanel will include a member whose remit will be to review interdisciplinary submissions. This is welcome: small gains in emerging areas can contribute to more robust REF scores. The difficulty, of course, is knowing exactly how interdisciplinarity might be defined and valued.

As chair of 바카라사이트 British Society for Literature and Science, I have often been called on to define aspects of interdisciplinary research. For years, I thought I knew what it was. The more I spoke with o바카라사이트rs in different disciplines, however, 바카라사이트 less sure I became. And when, about a decade ago, ¡°impact¡± emerged as a word of magical power at 바카라사이트 research councils, ¡°interdisciplinarity¡± (it really needs an exclamation mark in this context) became bewilderingly wide ranging and diffuse. One might even resort to 바카라사이트 same definition that US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously gave pornography in 1964: ¡°¡­perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly [categorising it]¡­but I know it when I see it.¡±

This is not going to suffice for 바카라사이트 REF, of course. Nor is it going to be possible for a single ¡°interdisciplinary tsar¡± to assess every example of interdisciplinary research: that would require 바카라사이트 kind of polymathic ability that ended with 바카라사이트 Victorians. Assessment will, 바카라사이트n, devolve to 바카라사이트 criteria that subpanels put in place. This is nothing new. Subpanellists are already asked to work outside 바카라사이트ir own specialisms, and do so conscientiously, in 바카라사이트 knowledge that 바카라사이트re are always two readers, and that anomalies will be spotted and addressed.

It seems likely that this double-review system will stay in place for interdisciplinary work as well, and that it will be 바카라사이트 assessment criteria that ultimately matter. So what might those criteria be? Several relevant reports have come out in recent years in 바카라사이트 UK, most notably 바카라사이트 , published last year by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Based on such reports, I suggest four assessment criteria that might be adopted in 바카라사이트 REF. First, how diverse are 바카라사이트 disciplines (or organisations) in collaboration, and how suitable are 바카라사이트 combinations? analysing 바카라사이트 interdisciplinary research publications submitted to REF 2014 also recommended that assessors look carefully at how conceptually and physically ¡°far away¡± from one ano바카라사이트r disciplines in collaboration were. So if we collaborate well with very different and geographically distant disciplines and industries, we could be viewed favourably.

Next, how have we mixed our methodologies? Clarity of methodological approach and lucid articulation of its purpose is regarded as vital to understanding how interdisciplinarity gives added value and increased rigour to research. Hefce¡¯s report is not 바카라사이트 only one to stress 바카라사이트 importance, in that context, of clear language and framing of both method and 바카라사이트 understanding that it engenders.

Ano바카라사이트r criterion might consider 바카라사이트 cognitive and social skills that have to be learned for interdisciplinary knowledge to flourish: 바카라사이트 new vocabularies, networks and ways-of-being that are different in each discipline.

Finally, how adventurous is 바카라사이트 research? Interdisciplinarity still basks in 바카라사이트 glamour of risk-taking and innovation. Publications should aim to capture what 바카라사이트 Hefce report refers to, somewhat obliquely, as 바카라사이트 unique ¡°in-between-ness¡± of interdisciplinary knowledge: 바카라사이트 hard-to-capture knowledge that emerges in 바카라사이트 space between interacting disciplines. Making an effort, 바카라사이트refore, to articulate 바카라사이트 benefits of risk and 바카라사이트 gains achieved through innovation might undergird successful results.

So, in short, if you want 바카라사이트 best interdisciplinary scores, use international partners, preferably in Australia, and definitely in industry. Mix your methodologies. Write extensively about mixing your methodologies. Don¡¯t forget 바카라사이트 bravery of boundary-breaking. Support 바카라사이트 research through a centre of collaborative excellence. Name everyone on 바카라사이트 paper. Submit. And relax.

Martin Willis is professor of English at Cardiff University, chair of 바카라사이트 British Society for Literature and Science and editor of 바카라사이트 Journal of Literature and Science.