REF Governance

REF 2029 governance workflow showing how UEG, REF groups, Main Panels and UoA teams oversee strategy, research assessment and submission preparation

Organisational chart titled “REF Governance”. Solid lines show reporting relationships; dotted lines show working relationships. The University Executive Group oversees the REF Strategy and Steering Group, which connects to the REF Appeals Group, REF Operational Group and Main Panel Groups. These connect to UoA Planning Groups, with working relationships involving URIC and the Practice Based Research Group.

REF 2029 Committee Structure – Reporting structure (solid line); Working connections (dashes)

University Executive Group (UEG) – Responsible for all final decisions for submission to REF 2029. 

REF Strategy and Steering Group – Recommends institutional strategy to UEG for REF and provides guidance and support to Units of Assessment. Collates information and data from Main Panels and the REF Operational Group to optimise the university submission.

University Research and Innovation Committee (URIC) – Provides resource in Faculties to support REF activities and preparations and receives REF updates/progress/outcomes from REF SSG. Responsible for the quantity and quality of REF eligible research for each Unit of Assessment in each Faculty.

REF Appeals Group – Meets annually if an appeal on the determination of Research Independence status is received from a member of Research Only staff to make a final decision based on evidence provided by the appeal process.

REF Operational Group – Provides resource in Faculties and central research services, such as RIS and the library, comprised mostly of professional services staff, for supporting REF activities such as research assessment and mock REF.

Main Panel Groups – Provide steering and guidance to the staff leading the Units of Assessment teams within that Main Panel to optimise their Unit of Assessment REF submission in line with the university strategy.

Practice Based Research Group – Supports the identification, development, assessment and optimisation of diverse research practices and outputs across all Units of Assessment in the university’s REF portfolio.

UoA (Unit of Assessment) Planning Group – Supports the identification, development, assessment and optimisation of all three elements of the REF submission for their UoA: Contribution to Knowledge (outputs), Engagement and Impact (impact case studies), and Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE).