REF 2028 SYMPOSIUM
Navigating a changing research assessment exercise

09:30

Registration and refreshments

10:00

Welcome and introductions

Led by the Chair

10:10

The evolution of the REF in context

In this opening session we reflect on REF 2021 and consider which aspects of the exercise were most effective and which posed the greatest challenges for UK business schools.

Speaker to be announced

10:40

REF 2028: An update from Research England

In this session the REF Director at Research England will provide an overview of the key principals and latest developments in the REF 2028 timeline.

Rebecca Fairbairn, REF Director, Research England

11:10

Break

11:30

Panel discussion: Assessing research culture, people and environment

In this panel discussion we reflect on why there is an increased emphasis on research culture in REF 2028; and on the practical implications and challenges for business schools and their parent institutions of the ‘people, culture and environment’ (PCE) dimension of the REF. Particular attention will be paid to question of ‘appropriate’ indicators (those that can be consistently and fairly applied and contextualised within institutional strategies and priorities); and about how an emphasis on research culture in REF 2028 can be used by business schools as a spur for other strategic priorities such as the nurturing of research and research-enabling staff from underrepresented groups.

Dr Gemma Derrick, Associate Professor (Research Policy & Culture), University of Bristol 

Dr Elizabeth Gadd, Head of Research Culture and Assessment, Loughborough University 

Additional panellists to be announced 

Moderator: Professor Paresh Wankhade, Director of Research, Edge Hill University Business School 

12:15

Panel discussion: Rigour, reach and significance: Assessing engagement and impact

In this panel discussion we reflect on the evolution of the impact dimension of the REF. The panel will share insights into how the REF will be concerned with both the process of delivering impact as well as outcomes; about the extent to which the work that business schools are doing in the impact space can mutually support both REF and KEF objectives; and about the general richness of business school research impact.

Professor Federica Angeli, Associate Dean of School (Research & Impact), School for Business and Society, University of York 

Professor Sumon Bhaumik, Research Development Director for Accounting and Financial and Management, Sheffield University Management School  

Professor Laura Spence, Professor of Business Ethics, School of Business and Management, Royal Holloway, University of London 

Professor Olga Tregaskis, Head, Norwich Business School 

13:00

Lunch

13:45

Panel Discussion: Assessing interdisciplinary research

In this session we explore how interdisciplinary research fits within the REF 2028 framework. Particular attention will be given to the questions of whether siloed units of assessment create a reticence among business schools, and their parent universities, to undertake interdisciplinary research; and about how the REF can build on the 2021 exercise to improve recognition and reward of interdisciplinary research.

Professor Keith Bender, SIRE Chair in Economics, University of Aberdeen Business School 

Professor Jennifer Johns, School Interdisciplinary Research Lead & SIMBE Research Director, University of Bristol Business School 

Professor John Quigley, Vice Dean (Research), Strathclyde Business School 

Professor Avi Shankar, Professor of Consumer Research & REF Director, School of Management, University of Bath 

14:30

Group Discussions: On the road to REF 2028: challenges and opportunities

In this session participants will divide into sub-groups to reflect on the ideas and initiatives presented in the morning's sessions; to discuss the specific issues that are keeping them awake and night; and to explore what action they will undertake at their institutions in response to the topics discussed.

Discussions facilitated by members of the Chartered ABS Research Committee

>>This session will include a 10min break<<

15:30

Summation

In the final part of the programme the group will reconvene to feedback on the discussion points from the earlier group discussions.

Led by the Chair

16:00

Close

Professor Federica Angeli
Associate Dean of School (Research & Impact), School for Business and Society, University of York

Professor Federica Angeli is a Chair in Management and Deputy Dean (Strategy and People) of the School for Business and Society, University of York. She has also served as Director of Research and Associated Dean for Research and Impact at the York Management School and then School for Business and Society.

Federica obtained her PhD in Business Administration from the University of Bologna, and has held positions at Tilburg University, Maastricht University and at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. By using a multidisciplinary, multi-level approach, her research investigates how business firms, hybrid organizations and inter-organizational networks adapt and learn to address complex societal issues, with a particular focus on inclusive healthcare delivery and poverty alleviation. Federica works closely with the English NHS and serves as a trustee of Women Health Matters, a Leeds-based charity championing freedom and supporting better life chances for disadvantaged women and girls. Her work has received several research awards and has been published in leading international academic journals.

Professor Keith Bender
SIRE Chair in Economics, University of Aberdeen Business School

Keith Bender joined Aberdeen as SIRE Professor of Economics in 2012 after having previous academic appointments at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Louisiana State University.  He is currently a Research Fellow at the IZA and an Associate Editor at the British Journal of Industrial Relations.  He has previously served as the Director of People and Interim Head at the Business School. His research focuses on labour economics with a significant interdisciplinary dimension to it (e.g. a just-completed ESRC grant working with health psychologists on payment schemes and stress).  His research has been published widely in journals such as Oxford Economic Papers, Economic Inquiry, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, SSM–Population Health, and Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Professor Sumon Bhaumik
Research Development Director for Accounting and Financial and Management, Sheffield University Management School

Sumon Bhaumik has a Chair in Finance at the University of Sheffield, and is the head of the Accounting and Financial Management subject group in the university's management school. He also sits on the university's Senate and is a member of its Council Finance Committee, and is a Research Fellow at IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn. Earlier in his career, he worked for a public policy think tank and a Moody's partner (credit rating) agency in India. He has published in journals such as the British Journal of Management, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, and Strategic Management Journal. Until recently, he was on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of International Business Studies, and he continues to be on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Management, and Journal of World Business. In the recent past, he has been a member of the REF2021 sub-panel 17 and a member of ESRC's peer review college. He is currently a member of the University of Sheffield's representation with the Trade and Sustainable Development Domestic Advisory Committee that has been set up by the Department of Business and Trade.

Dr Gemma Derrick
Associate Professor (Research Policy & Culture), University of Bristol

Biography to be supplied

Rebecca Fairbairn
REF Director, Research England

Rebecca became Director of REF 2028 in September 2023, following four years in New Delhi as Director of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) India.

Rebecca led the transformation from RCUK India, a partnership between the UK’s research councils in India, to UKRI India, the representative office for the UK’s major research and innovation funder. As Director of UKRI India she enjoyed working with Indian partners and with the wider interests of the UK government in India to build new opportunities.

Rebecca has worked with research councils and UKRI since 2005, primarily for the Economic and Social Research Council, covering roles in research funding, big data, postgraduate training, governance and evaluation. As Head of Knowledge Exchange, she led the transformation of ESRC’s approach to knowledge exchange and impact, successfully embedding it across the whole of the ESRC's remit. As Head of Data & Infrastructure Rebecca was responsible for the ESRC's longstanding, world class, portfolio of longitudinal studies and the shape and sustainability of that multi-million-pound portfolio into the future.

Rebecca was seconded to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Bangalore from 2009-2011, leading science and innovation partnership between the UK and South India and, as Deputy Head of Mission, supporting the transition of the British Trade Office into a Deputy High Commission.

Dr Elizabeth Gadd
Head of Research Culture and Assessment, Loughborough University

Biography to be supplied

Professor Avi Shankar
Professor of Consumer Research & REF Director, School of Management, University of Bath

Avi Shankar is a Professor of Consumer Research and REF2028 Director in the School of Management at the University of Bath. He served as a Panel Member for SP17: Business & Management during REF2021.

Professor Laura Spence
Professor of Business Ethics, School of Business and Management, Royal Holloway, University of London

Laura J. Spence PhD, is Professor of Business Ethics at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK where she has been Associate Dean Research, Director of Research Impact and Director of the Centre for Research into Sustainability. She is International Research Fellow with the Centre for Corporate Reputation at Saïd Business School, and Visiting Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford. Laura served on the UK’s 2021 Research Excellence Framework Subpanel for Business and Management. She has published widely on business ethics, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility in journals such as Accounting, Organisations and Society, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Organization Studies and Business Ethics Quarterly.  Laura is consulting editor for the Journal of Business Ethics. Since 2022 she has been Special Policy Advisor on Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Engagement for the United Nations Global Compact. She is a member of The ESRC Productivity Institute and is co-leading a project on A Just Transition to Net Zero for UKS SMEs. Professor Spence is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Professor Olga Tregaskis
Head, Norwich Business School

Professor Olga Tregaskis is Head of UEA’s Norwich Business School and Professor of International HR Management. Her research focuses on global leadership and productive work environments. She was the scientific lead for Skills and Learning as part of the What Works Wellbeing Evidence Programme and part of the UEA Team working with RAND Europe examining organisational transformations on Health and Wellbeing Practice. Her research has attracted successive UK Research Council funding to address questions of organisational transformation in the field of wellbeing, management norm making, and network building.

She is currently lead academic in the ESRC Research Centre for Climate and Social Transformations, where her work focuses on net zero organisational transformations and sustainability leadership. She is co-author of a book entitled Achieving Sustainable Workplace Wellbeing and her work has been widely published in academic journals including Journal of International Business Studies, British Journal of Management, Human Resource Management Journal, Social Science and Medicine, Journal of Organizational Psychology. She served on the REF2021 sub-panel for Business and Management.

Professor Paresh Wankhade
Director of Research, Edge Hill University Business School

Paresh Wankhade is a Director of Research at Edge Hill University Business School, UK.  He is the Editor-In-Chief of International Journal of Emergency Services. His research and publications focus on analyses of strategic leadership, organisational culture, organisational change and interoperability within the public services with a focus on blue light services. Paresh has published in major journals including Work, Employment and Society, International Journal of Management Reviews, Public Management Review, Regional Studies, Public Money and Management and International Journal of Human Resource Management. His latest  monograph  explores options to bridge the theory-practice divide in emergency services research. Most recently, he has been elected as the Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

The REF 2028 Symposium will take place at the:

School of Law and Social Justice

University of Liverpool
Liverpool
L69 7ZR

Accommodation

Participants are responsible for making their own accommodation arrangements. For recommended hotels see below:

• Novotel Liverpool Paddington Village, 3 Paddington Village, Off Grove St, Liverpool L7 3FA (10 minute walk from the venue)
• Hope Street Hotel, 40 Hope St, Liverpool L1 9DA (8 minute walk from the venue)
• The Blackburne, 24 Catharine St, Liverpool L8 7NL (7 minute walk from the venue)
• Holiday Inn: Liverpool - City Centre, Lime St, Liverpool L1 1NQ (14 minute walk from venue)
• Liverpool City Centre (Liverpool One) Hotel, 48 Hanover St, Liverpool L1 4AF (14 minute walk from venue)