Ulster's REF2021 Consultation Process

Ulster University’s REF2021 process is about transparency, consistency and accountability and, as such, colleagues have been consulted on an ongoing basis on all aspects of REF2021.

Full details of our consultation process from 2018 onwards are outlined below and in the attached PDF.

Consultation 1 (March 2018)

In March 2018, as a first step towards making our REF2021 submission, a university-wide online ‘Consultation on the Development of the University’s Code of Practice on the Identification of Staff for Submission to REF2021’ was issued. This consultation focused on agreeing a process for identifying Category A Eligible staff and a subsequent process for determining and agreeing university-wide SRR indicators.

Consultation 2 (Summer 2018)

Feedback from Consultation 1 informed the development of a process for identifying Category A Eligible and Category A Submitted staff.  As part of this agreed process a second consultation was conducted via trilateral meetings with ALL academic/research staff.  The purpose of the trilaterals was to meet with all staff to determine their Category A Eligibility status and to consult with each member of staff on what they deemed to be appropriate indicators of ‘Significant Research Responsibility’ (SRR) for their discipline.

Consultation 3 (Late Summer 2018)

In preparing the institutional response to the  UK wide consultation on the REF2021 Draft Guidance on Submissions and Draft Panel Criteria and Working Methods Ulster University issued a University-wide online consultation on the draft documents and sought feedback from all staff with an interest in the conduct, quality, funding or use of research.

Consultation 4 (Autumn 2018)

Feedback from Consultation 2 (ie: the individual trilaterals) on potential SRR indicators informed the development of a suite of SRR indicators that were then circulated as part of a further university-wide online consultation before being finalised and documented in the University’s draft REF2021 Code of Practice.

Consultation 5 (Spring 2019)

Taking into account feedback from all previous consultations a first draft of the REF2021 CoP was developed and submitted to members of the REF2021 Steering Committee for feedback.

Consultation 6 (May 2019)

Taking into account feedback from REF2021 Steering Committee members (Consultation 5), a final draft of the REF2021 CoP was prepared and underwent a university-wide consultation in May 2019 before being finalised and submitted in June 2019. In this consultation respondents were asked to focus specifically on the  Appeals process, Individual Staff Circumstances and processes for identifying and selecting outputs.