RAE coundown 2008

Ian Marshall is associate pro vice-chancellor (research) and dean of the faculty of engineering and computing at Coventry University. He is responsible for the university's strategy in the run-up to the 2008 research assessment exercise Professor Marshall may not lose sleep every night over the looming research assessment exercise but it happens more often than he would like.

Since becoming Coventry's associate pro vice-chancellor for research last year, he has been responsible for ensuring the institution can hold its head high in research terms.

"Part of my job is to worry about getting a good result, however that's defined," he said. "Not getting a good score could really damage the university's reputation. But when the (university) league tables are drawn up, we know it will be a contributing factor. We all say we don't believe in them but we still aspire to go up them."

The amount of money received from the RAE was normally quite small but a modern university had to submit research by a "credible" number of units to maintain status and show it was still in the blue-skies research game, Professor Marshall said.

He revamped the univers ity's strategy, shifting its focus towards applied research. He found that research-active staff wanted much more focused support for research and the ability to create small groups without jumping through bureaucratic hoops.

Last August, he launched a scheme supporting applied research centres, where groups of 15 academics - or groups with the potential to grow to that number - could bid for central funding to help them set up a research team.

The idea is to allow academics to form and disband research groups quickly and easily.

"There were five to begin with and five more last December. They had to have a clear research strategy and business plan and we funded them to appoint additional posts," he explained. "They're all at different stages.

Some are well established but others are still appointing staff."

He said that while it was hard to appoint staff coming up to an RAE, the first review of the scheme showed most of the centres made significant strides towards their research objectives.

But it is the changes to the 2008 RAE that really worry Professor Marshall.

"We learnt from the three previous exercises and the slight changes worry the heck out of me. Moving the (rating) scale worries me. With the world-class definition, the (assessment) panels have tried to clarify (what ratings mean) but what it comes down to is 'we'll know it when we see it'."

And striking a balance between submitting early career staff with one or two papers and some money to show vibrancy or entering only established staff is also fraught. "There are lots of decisions you can make that may damage the result, and that's really where I lose sleep at night," he said.

And it does not end in 2008. "People will feel a unit (group or department) could have got a better rating if other staff had been left out. That has the potential to be quite destructive if it's not handled carefully. There could be infighting. All the universities are being quite selective this time round."