"In 2023, Australia abandoned its expensive and bureaucratic scholar-led research-assessment programme. New Zealand followed suit soon after. The hope, according to a transition plan unveiled by the Australian federal government's Department of Education and the research sector, was to find a "more modern, data-driven approach". In the United Kingdom, where financial pressures on universities are especially acute, there are similar calls to reform the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the country's performance-based research-funding system."
"When it last ran in 2021, it cost an estimated £471 million (US$649 million). Each of the 157 submitting institutions spent £3 million, on average - a cost that many institutions running on deficits can ill afford. The next REF will run in 2029. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that artificial intelligence can improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of research assessment, which can, for example, spare academics from the burden of reviewing and scoring published outputs or documenting societal impact. It seems reasonable to ask, therefore, whether AI use for the REF is a no-brainer."
"To test this hypothesis, our team of researchers at the Centre for Higher Education Transformations at the University of Bristol, UK, and Jisc, a non-profit membership organization providing technology and data services to the UK education and research sectors, toured 16 UK universities as part of a consultation exercise funded by Research England. Research England is part of UK Research and Innovation, the country's higher-education funder, which is responsible for distributing £8.8 billion in research funding in 2025-26. Our aim was to investigate how AI is being used for research assessment and assess opinions about such use."
In 2023 Australia abandoned its expensive, bureaucratic scholar-led research-assessment programme and New Zealand followed soon after. A transition plan from the Australian federal Department of Education and the research sector aimed to find a "more modern, data-driven approach". The United Kingdom faces similar calls to reform the Research Excellence Framework (REF) amid acute financial pressures on universities. The REF last ran in 2021 and cost an estimated £471 million, with each of 157 submitting institutions spending an average £3 million. Evidence suggests artificial intelligence can improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness in research assessment. A research team from the University of Bristol and Jisc toured 16 UK universities, funded by Research England, to investigate AI use for research assessment and gather opinions; Research England distributes £8.8 billion in research funding in 2025–26.
#research-assessment #research-excellence-framework #artificial-intelligence #higher-education-funding
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