The Royal Society has submitted evidence to the Stern Review of the Research Excellence Framework. The Society's response highlights that:
- A research landscape based on excellence in science, collaboration, diversity, openness and agility will help excellent researchers make a full contribution to the UK’s culture, society and economy
- The dual support system is crucial
- The REF should be designed around it's primary purpose, the allocation of QR funding, with consideration for the culture it can create
- The Society recommends a more institutionally-focussed system where institutions submit outputs to be assessed by discipline-specific panels
- Peer review should remain at the heart of the REF
- The Society supports the inclusion of impact as one of the features of the REF
- Excellent science should be supported wherever and by whomever it is done