Impact Workshop (11): The UK REF Process - from Outputs to Impact
- Date & Time:
Januany 13, 2016 (Wed) | 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
- Venue:
Social Sciences Function Room, 11/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus
- Speaker:
Professor Glyn Humphreys (1954-2016)
Watts Professor of Experimental Psychology and Head of Department
Department of Experimental Psychogy, University of Oxford
Distinguished Visiting Professor, The University of Hong Kong
Chairman of the UK REF 2014 Sub-panel 4: Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
This workshop is jointly organised by the Faculty of Education and the Knowledge Exchange Office.
Abstract:
I will give an overview of the REF 2014 exercise in the UK focusing on sub-panel 4 (Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience). I will give a picture of the level and types of submissions before going into more detail on the impact component which was new to the 2014 exercise. I will discuss what factors were considered to make a strong impact case study and what typical weaknesses there might be, and also what was looked for in terms of supporting the case for impact. As a workshop, there will be substantial scope for questions and answers.
About the Speaker:
Professor Glyn Humphreys is a cognitive neuropsychologist with research interests covering: the diagnosis and management of cognitive problems after brain injury, visual attention, perception, language and the control of action, social cognition. He has published over 500 papers in international journals and 16 books. He has been awarded the Spearman Medal, the Prize for Cognitive Psychology (twice), and the President's Award of the British Psychological Society, the Donald Broadbent Prize from the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, a Humboldt Fellowship, the Leibniz Professorship and Special Professorship of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Sciences, the Royal Society of Medicine, the Academy of Social Sciences and the British Academy. He has edited the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Visual Cognition (founding Editor) and the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. He is currently Watts professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford.
Background on the Workshops:
Impact is a key element of the University's knowledge exchange (KE) strategy. Since 2012/13, the University Grants Committee (UGC) requires each UGC-funded institution to submit up to 5 impact case studies that are underpinned by excellent research as part of the knowledge transfer/KE annual report each year. The format is similar to the impact case study template of the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014.
It is also important to note that in the Panel-Specific Assessment Criteria for the UGC RAE 2014, all the Panels included under the "Esteem" measure some elements relating to KE/technology transfer. This suggests that the next Hong Kong RAE will likely require evidence of impact and the UK experience indicates that now is the time to start collecting evidence of such impacts.
The Knowledge Exchange Office is organising workshops to be conducted by researchers who have hands-on experience in preparing impact statements and impact case studies for the UK REF 2014 or research councils overseas. The workshops will be of interest not only to colleagues who want to maximise the impact of their research, but also to those who co-ordinate research developments and research assessment in Faculties.