Research review casts net wider

A review of research assessment has been launched in the wake of last year's RAE, writes Alison Goddard.

Sir Gareth Roberts, president of Wolfson College, Oxford, will chair the steering group. It has until March to devise a better way of assessing research quality. It will then report to the funding bodies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"We are thinking much broader than the RAE. We want to look at all the different approaches to evaluating research quality internationally," said Rama Thirunamachandran, director for research and knowledge transfer at the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

"We will look at a range of models, taking account of the need to inform funding, transparency, the need to minimise the assessment burden and to reduce any unintended consequences of assessment."

The steering group comprises Sir Leszek Borysiewicz of Imperial College London; Vicki Bruce of the University of Edinburgh; David Eastwood, vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia; Georgina Follett of Dundee University; John Kemp of AstraZeneca; Fabian Monds of Invest Northern Ireland; Terri Rees of the University of Cardiff; Phil Ruffles of Rolls-Royce; and Sir David Watson, director of Brighton University.

It will oversee a technical review team led by staff from Hefce.

The technical review team will develop different approaches to research assessment for consideration by the steering group.

The steering committee's recommendations will be published for consultation in the spring.

A final report, which will contain opinions and evidence gathered during the consultation, is due to be published in the autumn.