Welcome What the REF - Our attempt at demystifying everyone's favourite national research assessment exercise!
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Simon's away, so James and Gemma are going rogue. This week: two autumn predictions land, a £1bn devolution push and a new research data policy. Then the British Academy's report on dual support, which quietly admits UK research is funded by a tripartite system. Could QR money ever be audited after allocation? Next, the Meta Science Unit's AI-driven evaluation plans: do we really need more indicators, and would you rather be assessed by a bot or your peers? In REF folklore, do panels judge NTOs by proxies? Plus, a trail for our mid-November live reaction to the REF guidance.
Our hosts are all members of the Hidden REF committee based at the universities of Southampton and Bristol: Gemma Derrick - a self-confessed REF junkie, and James Baker. Our producer is Ben Thomas.
Find out more about the HiddenREF campaign at Hidden-REF.org (https://hidden-ref.org/ )
'What the REF' is made possible by the Embedding Trust in Evaluation (E-TIE) research grant from Research England.
Want to get in touch? Email: WTreF@hidden-ref.org
WTreF is co-produced by Simon Hettrick, Gemma Derrick, James Baker and Ben Thomas. Video and Sound production by Ben Thomas.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
14 Oct 2026
What the REF is Michael reading?!
The REF 2029 guidance finally has a date... Sort of. James, Ola and Michael unpack what that means, then dig into UKRI’s reported plans to phase out QR funding for research culture and policy engagement, and Prof. Brian Cox’s argument that you can’t engineer growth by directing research. They explore CoARA’s guidance on recognising diverse research outputs, share lessons from non-traditional output workshops in Aberdeen and Loughborough, and bust some REF folklore about those mysterious 300-word statements. Plus: a book on Vatican II, a TV show about space policy, and a plea for clarity.
Our hosts are all members of the Hidden REF committee based at the universities of Southampton and Bristol: James Baker, Ola Thomson and Michael Donnay. Our producer is Ben Thomas.
Find out more about the HiddenREF campaign at Hidden-REF.org (https://hidden-ref.org/ )
'What the REF' is made possible by the Embedding Trust in Evaluation (E-TIE) research grant from Research England.
Want to get in touch? Email: WTreF@hidden-ref.org
WTreF is co-produced by Simon Hettrick, Gemma Derrick, James Baker and Ben Thomas. Video and Sound production by Ben Thomas.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
30 Sept 2026
What the REF are we expecting this Autumn?!
REF rules are (probably) coming this autumn — but what else is heading the sector's way? James, Gemma and Simon (plus one uninvited chicken) map out the season ahead: the budget, UKRI funding fallout, open data policy, devolution, and the very real possibility a Russell Group university could collapse. They dig into the Hidden REF competition's record-breaking 222 entries, report back from an international research-evaluation conference in Antwerp, and tackle the sector's favourite rumour: is the REF finally getting cancelled? (Spoiler: probably not.) Sharp, funny, and essential listening for anyone navigating UK research policy.
Our hosts are all members of the Hidden REF committee based at the universities of Southampton and Bristol: Gemma Derrick - a self-confessed REF junkie - James Baker, and Simon Hettrick. Our producer is Ben Thomas.
Find out more about the HiddenREF campaign at Hidden-REF.org (https://hidden-ref.org/ )
'What the REF' is made possible by the Embedding Trust in Evaluation (E-TIE) research grant from Research England.
Want to get in touch? Email: WTreF@hidden-ref.org
WTreF is co-produced by Simon Hettrick, Gemma Derrick, James Baker and Ben Thomas. Video and Sound production by Ben Thomas.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Who has been a guest on What the REF?!
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James Baker
Gemma Derrick
Simon Hettrick
Marcus Munafò
Dame Jessica Corner
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