The UK’s “bureaucratic and unaffordable” Research Excellence Framework (REF) should be replaced with a system that allocates funding in relation to the number of external grants won, a leading thinktank has proposed.
Amid widespread concerns over the financial sustainability of the higher education sector, UK Day One, a research and innovation thinktank, has called for the expansive eight-year exercise to be scrapped – along with the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) – in favour of a low-bureaucracy system that saves the government and universities money.
Its report – published on 8 October – builds on the Tickell review from 2022 which advocated reform and the Labour government’s pledge to cut red tape for researchers. Authors highlight evidence that the REF is “overly bureaucratic and expensive”, is ineffective at improving research quality and discourages “blue sky” research.
They argue that REF 2029 should be replaced with a system where Quality-related Research funding is allocated to institutions in proportion to “external research income”, won by their researchers through grants from the private, public and philanthropic sectors.
While any reforms will “create winners and losers”, the thinktank believes that a system focused on external research income will result in a QR funding allocation similar to existing plans for REF 2029, but without the associated bureaucracy.
Such a big reduction in bureaucracy will give researchers more time and space to pursue blue sky research, it is claimed.
Authors also believe that incentivising universities to focus on increasing external research income will encourage them to support spin-outs and drive greater collaboration with local industry in line with Labour’s industrial strategy.
According to the report, scrapping the REF would be “cost-free and save money”. Provided costs have not increased further beyond REF 2021, it estimates that the new system would save approximately £17 million for research councils, and £430 million for universities.
“With pressures on both university and government finances, we can no longer afford an evaluation exercise which costs half a billion and fails to deliver clear benefits,” said Sanjush Dalmia, co-author of the report and former science policy adviser to Labour.
“An alternative system focused on external research income will cut red tape for researchers, improve research financial sustainability and incentivise collaboration with local industry, driving regional productivity growth.”
UK Day One said that because the KEF does not play a role in allocating funding, “universities have little incentive to improve their performance on these metrics” and therefore it should also be scrapped.
Replacing the REF would follow moves made by some other large sectors in recent years. Australia has already ended its Excellence in Research in Australia process, while New Zealand cancelled the upcoming round of its national research assessment exercise.
