What the REF?! podcast

What the REF: GONE ROGUE!

10/28/2026
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Simon's away, so James and Gemma are going rogue. This week: two autumn predictions land, a £1bn devolution push and a new research data policy. Then the British Academy's report on dual support, which quietly admits UK research is funded by a tripartite system. Could QR money ever be audited after allocation? Next, the Meta Science Unit's AI-driven evaluation plans: do we really need more indicators, and would you rather be assessed by a bot or your peers? In REF folklore, do panels judge NTOs by proxies? Plus, a trail for our mid-November live reaction to the REF guidance.


Our hosts are all members of the Hidden REF committee based at the universities of Southampton and Bristol: Gemma Derrick - a self-confessed REF junkie, and James Baker. Our producer is Ben Thomas.

Find out more about the HiddenREF campaign at Hidden-REF.org


'What the REF' is made possible by the Embedding Trust in Evaluation (E-TIE) research grant from Research England.


Want to get in touch? Email: [email protected]


WTreF is co-produced by Simon Hettrick, Gemma Derrick, James Baker and Ben Thomas. Video and Sound production by Ben Thomas.

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