The Research Excellence Framework (REF) has appointed three Ulster University academics to act as panel members exploring the practicality of submission and assessment of People, Culture and Environment elements for the REF 2029 exercise.
Professor Julie-Anne Little, Professor Martin McCracken, and Dr. Brian Bridges will each represent their respective research areas.
Panel members were selected based on their experience of previous REF assessments and institutional REF submissions, as well as their experience of people, culture, and research environment.
REF 2029 will deliver an expanded definition of research excellence, recognising the wide range of research, roles, and people that are essential to the vitality of the UK’s vibrant research system.
Remarking on the panel member appointments Professor Liam Maguire, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, says:
“We are very pleased to be a part of this key pilot programme defining research excellence in the areas of people, culture and environment.
Research culture and community is at the core of our research strategy for the next five years and I am gratified that our researchers have been recognised for their own expertise in improving the research environment in their specialties.”
Ulster University’s Panel Members
A panel member for Unit of Assessment 3 – Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy, Professor Julie-Anne Little’s research focuses on investigating refractive error, accommodation and visual function in childhood, and aims to optimise vision, educational attainment and quality of life through effective eye care and interventions for individuals across the world.
She has a significant track record of highly cited peer-reviewed journal articles and strong national and international links to ensure her research has real-world impact.
Professor Julie-Anne Little
Professor Julie-Anne Little, Professor of Optometry and Vision Science and Research Director for Biomedical Sciences, comments:
“I am delighted to contribute to the REF people, culture and environment pilot panel. These aspects are central to successful research, and important not only for how we measure their performance for REF2029, but for how we continue to build and evolve a vibrant UK research community for the future.”
Professor Martin McCracken acts as a panel member for Unit of Assessment 17 – Business and Management Studies. Martin’s research expertise centres upon the areas of Strategic Human Resource Management, understanding the factors that influence participation in employment, learning and development activities.
Martin is currently Editor in Chief of the well renowned journal Education and Trainingand is an editorial board member in a number of highly influential journals in the Work and Employment area.
Professor Martin McCracken
Professor of Work and Employment and Researcher Director for Business and Management, Professor Martin McCracken adds:
“I am delighted to be a member of this panel which is designed to understand research culture and people development within the Higher Education sector in the UK. I hope to be able to take back many key learnings from the panel and apply them in our Business School, so that we are well prepared for the upcoming REF exercise in 2029.”
A composer/sonic artist, electronic musician and arts-technology researcher, Dr Brian Bridges serves as a panel member for Unit of Assessment 33 – Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies.
Brian’s research fields include composition and installation practices, musical HCI, sound design, modular synthesis, soundtrack studies, microtonality, and spatial/immersive music. Brian currently serves on the editorial board of Organised Sound (Cambridge), he is leading on the £460k+ Presence Lab project at Ulster’s Derry~Londonderry campus, and is also a co-investigator within the AHRC CoSTAR network.
Dr Brian Bridges
Dr Brian Bridges, Senior Lecturer in Music and Creative Audio and Research Director of Music, Drama, Performing Arts, Film & Screen responds:
“The new REF cycle has given us a great opportunity, as a sector, to reconsider research environment and culture within a broader people-centered frame. I’m honoured to be part of this pilot, representing a diverse range of practice-based and practice-led disciplines within the arts, and I look forward to working with colleagues from right across the UK sector as we seek to test how the new People, Culture and Environment assessment will work for arts practice disciplines.
This work comes at an opportune time for our field as the sector intensifies its focus on sustaining healthy research cultures and environments. I look forward to connecting our work within this pilot with the knowledge of practice-as-research in Northern Ireland which we have gained as part of the Wellcome-funded Northern Ireland Research Culture project (in partnership with QUB).”
Research Excellence Framework
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education providers (HEIs). The REF outcomes are used to inform the allocation of around £2 billion per year of public funding for universities’ research