RE140114HEFCE — Analysis and dissemination of the impact case studies submitted to the Research Exce

Descriptions

HEFCE operates the UK's national research assessment process, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), on behalf of all four of the UK's Higher Education Funding Bodies. The results of this national research assessment are used to determine the distribution of HEFCE's Quality-related Research funding, and equivalent funding streams in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Submissions to the most recent iteration of the exercise were completed in November 2013, and the results will be published in December 2014.For the first time, the REF has included an element that will assess the broader impact of the research carried out in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). For this assessment, HEIs making submissions to the REF have been required to provide a set of case studies demonstrating the broader impact resulting from their research alongside an ‘impact template' describing their approach to supporting and enabling impact. The 6,975 case studies contain a wealth of evidence concerning the benefits that result from investment in research and knowledge exchange in UK HEIs and are the focus of this project.The Council, with its partners , wishes to commission a project to deliver two primary objectives:1. To make the impact case studies freely available in a form and format to enable researchers to carry out analysis using a range of techniques and methods, and;2. Carry out a synthetic analysis of the impact case studies to provide evidence on the impact of research in HEIs.