Being ‘resourceful’ in academic engagement with parliament

As universities are busy monitoring their timelines in the run up to REF 2021, institutional impact cases studies are being gathered, alongside high quality publications. Emphasis has been placed too, on supporting the submission and assessment of interdisciplinary research in the Research Excellence Framework (REF), through an Interdisciplinary Research Advisory Panel (IDAP).

It is worth reflecting on what cross-disciplinary ‘engagements with impact’ from research really means. And now that a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) has been established, It is worth asking too, how university research could also further a key goal of the new regulatory body, Office for Students (OfS): that “every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers”.

Approximately half of all UK universities get around two-thirds of their income from student fees, so maybe it is time to think (and act) creatively around how research, teaching and external engagement activities – taken together – might be crafted to build narratives of impact for REF. At the same time, we might just be able to benefit our students, whose fees are keeping us all in business!