It takes a village: applying to join a REF Panel
Following our recent webinar exploring the process of applying to join a REF2029 assessment panel, NCCPE Co-director, Paul Manners, writes how we can help realise an open, inclusive research system.
The NCCPE is an enthusiastic supporter of the REF. We know it is not without its problems - what assessment process isn’t – but we have written before about how it invites us to work collectively to create a more open, inclusive, and engaged sector.
This is particularly true of REF 2029. The initial decisions about the next REF, published in 2023, invited a radical rethink of the way the sector organises research: to move from a paradigm where traditional research production dominates to a knowledge ecosystem in which engagement, environment and the production of knowledge are understood as completely interdependent. And key to the REF is the fact it is co-designed with the sector, through its panel structure.
Applying to join a panel
Key to the delivery of the REF are the 4 main panels and the 34 sub-panels , organised along disciplinary lines, which will be developing the guidance and criteria over the next 9 months, and then in 2029, will be assessing the 1000s of submissions.
The main panel chairs have been announced, and the sub-panel chairs will be announced shortly. But there are lots of roles still to be filled, with the recruitment of expert panel members closing at noon on 28 April. There are opportunities to contribute expertise in each of the three REF profiles: Engagement and Impact, Contributions to Knowledge and Understanding, and People, Culture and Environment.
Panel members play a key role in helping to develop the criteria this year, and in assessing the submissions in 2029. Panel members can expect to spend between 40 - 60 days working on the REF over the cycle, depending on the panel, the role within it, and the phase appointed. The concentration of time commitment is expected to be one third for the criteria setting, and two thirds for the assessment phase. The REF team will continue to review the workload expectations, using the ‘survey of submission intentions’ in 2027 to determine the submission shape. The roles are remunerated.
If you are not sure you want to join as a panel member for the criteria setting phase, you can apply later in the process to support the assessment phase. Specialist assessors will likely be recruited later in 2027, to help with (for instance) the assessment of impact case studies. You can find out lots more about how to apply on the REF2029 website, including a recent town hall about the process.
The REF needs you!
The NCCPE’s interest is in ensuring the expertise represented on the panels is as diverse as possible – in terms of outlook, expertise and lived experience. In particular, we are keen to encourage people with experience of public engagement – working inside and outside higher education – to consider applying.
With this in mind, we recently convened a panel of people who have been part of the process in previous iterations to share their experiences, encouragement and advice.
"It’s an enormous privilege"
Anne Boddington is a self-confessed REF ‘old timer’ having been a panel member, a deputy chair and a chair of the Art and Design Panel in REF 2021. She emphasized the extraordinary opportunity it offers to see the 360 degrees of research and engagement undertaken in your field and the extraordinary difference it makes.
Lisa Jamieson, a freelance PE consultant, worked as a panel assessor on the History panel in 2021. She spent a lot of time advocating for public engagement, helping people understand what good practice looked like and what high-quality engagement was. She also reflected on how the process helped her professional development:
"It's an incredibly rewarding process. It's a privilege to see this work and really dive deeply into a discipline and understand the state of that discipline right across the sector. You get such a breadth of a view. The difference it's making socially, culturally, economically. It really is a privilege to do that".
It takes a village
Doris Ruth Eikhof is a member of the REF2029 People and Diversity panel – set up to ensure the recognition and inclusion of the full range of professions and careers and career stages that are part of UK research system, and to advance EDI throughout the REF, including in the formation of the panels. She explained how the panel understands inclusion in relation to the panels:
‘"It isn't about counting and saying, have we got X amount of those on and X amount of those? It’s about curating a chorus of perspectives, on what higher education does for itself and for society. It does take a village to figure out whether what we're doing in higher education is done well and done inclusively".
All of the panelists emphasised the collegiality and support that was on offer: they were made to feel welcome, valued and really listened to. Ben Johnson, a member of Main Panel B, recruited for his public engagement expertise, commented wryly that "it's the only time in my life I've ever been consistently listened to by professors. Everybody around the table is taken really seriously".
Lisa emphasised the quality of the induction and training on offer: "We had lots of calibration exercises, moderation exercises, and presentations from people about what policy impact looked like for those of us who weren't policy impact specialists".
Focus on your expertise
The panel gave lots of advice about how to craft your application. Lesley Paterson, another freelance public engagement consultant, explained how she fitted her experience to the criteria – and didn’t worry that she couldn’t tick all of the boxes.
Anne Boddington reinforced the advice to ‘be yourself’: "Lots of people try and think about what REF panels want. Don't. Think about what matters to your field, how you would want to be treated, and how you would want your institution and your community to be there".
Find out more and get involved
We hope this blog inspires you to consider applying, either now or later in 2027 to act as an expert panel assessor. Please do also reach out to people in your networks who you think could offer rich and relevant expertise and experience, especially people working outside the university sector with a deep interest in engaged research.
We have made the slides from the event available, as well as a recording of the event and a full set of Questions and Answers, covering everything from how much you can expect to be paid, what the time commitment is, and how to navigate possible conflicts of interest.
We also have a range of resources explaining the REF and how it is organised.
