Data about research doctoral degrees awarded and research income related to the period 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2013. A completed template describing the research environment, related to the period 1 January 2008 to 31 July 2013. The deadline for submissions is 29 November 2013. Submissions will be assessed by the REF panels during the course of 2014. Results will be published in December 2014, and will be used by the higher education funding bodies to inform research funding from academic year 2015-16. Action required This document is for information and to guide institutions in preparing and collecting data for inclusion in REF 2014 submissions. No action is required by higher education institutions at this stage. Further information Further information about the REF is available at . Enquiries from members of staff at UK higher education institutions should be directed in the first instance to their institutional REF contact. These contacts for each institution are listed at under Contact. Other enquiries should be addressed to . Introduction This document sets out the framework for assessment and administrative arrangements for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). It specifies the data requirements, definitions and criteria that will for submissions by higher education institutions (HEIs). It should be read in conjunction with the documents setting out the panel criteria and working methods of the four main panels (hereafter, the ‘panel criteria’), which we will publish in draft form for consultation in July 2011 and in final form early in 2012. This document and the panel criteria will together describe comprehensively the data required in submissions, and how panels will use the data in their assessments. We may issue supplements to this guidance at later dates to clarify points of detail regarding submissions, but such supplements will not request any new items of data. In October 2012 we will formally invite eligible HEIs to make submissions to the 2014 REF. We will launch the submission system and provide accompanying technical guidance in January 2013. The deadline for submissions is 29 November 2013.
If not available in electronic format, a physical copy of the output or appropriate evidence of the output. Further details of the method of submission will accompany the version of the submission system software in autumn 2012. Part 3 Section 3: Impact template and case studies (REF3a/b) Definition of impact for the REF For the purposes of the REF, impact is defined as an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia (as set out in paragraph 143). Impact includes, but is not limited to, an effect on, change or benefit to: the activity, attitude, awareness, behaviour, capacity, opportunity, performance, policy, practice, process or understanding of an audience, beneficiary, community, constituency, organisation or individuals in any geographic location whether locally, regionally, nationally or internationally. Impact includes the reduction or prevention of harm, risk, cost or other negative effects. For the purposes of the impact element of the REF: Impacts on research or the advancement of academic knowledge within the higher education sector (whether in the UK or internationally) are excluded. (The submitted unit’s contribution to academic research and knowledge is assessed within the ‘outputs’ and ‘environment’ elements of REF.) Impacts on students, teaching or other activities within the submitting HEI are excluded. Other impacts within the higher education sector, including on teaching or students, are included where they extend significantly beyond the submitting HEI. Impacts will be assessed in terms of their ‘reach and significance’ regardless of the geographic location in which they occurred, whether locally, regionally, nationally or internationally. The UK funding bodies expect that many impacts will contribute to the economy, society and culture within the UK, but equally value the international contribution of UK research.