The Hidden REF:

Broadening the definition of impact

Simon Hettrick

25 February 2025 - Impact Seminar, Southampton -  @simonhettrick.bsky.social     ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195

Knowledge Excellence Framework

Use software

Fundamental to results

69%

92%

n=417

Who's writing all the software?

Researcher

Software

Engineer

Research

Software

Engineer

~10,000 RSEs worldwide

Image courtesy Ian Cosden

Greater access to skills

=

Better research

 

And lots of impact...

Publications

Money

Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome

- Charlie Munger

Recognising all research outputs and every role that makes research possible

 

www.hidden-ref.org

  • Training materials and courses
  • Grimpact
  • Citizen science
  • Enabling access to facilities
  • Community building
  • Standards

New categories

Libcrowds

 

  • A platform for hosting experimental crowdsourcing projects to improve access to the diverse collections held at the British Library
  • 266,000 contributions from 3000 contributors leading to 175 projects

Mitigating the Psychological Impact of COVID-19

 

  • A comprehensive package to help mitigate the effects of working during the pandemic
  • Developed by five people
  • 77,000 healthcare workers around the world during its first 12 month

And some more impact...

Thank you!

@simonhettrick.bsky.social

ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195, EPSRC Grant no: AH/Z000114/1

Licence

 © Simon Hettrick. These slides are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Link to slides

https://slides.com/simonhettrick/hidden-ref-for-impact-seminar

Image credits

  • RSE map Image courtesy of Ian Cosden
  • Library by janko ferlic on Unsplash
  • Surgeons by national cancer institute on Unsplash
  • Open by kiryl on Unsplash
  • Outside the box by diana parkhouse on Unsplash