Skills, assessment and the Hidden REF

Simon Hettrick

8 February 2024 - Research14, online -  @sjh5000     ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195

If we don't recognise the people who are vital to research,

we limit our ability to conduct research

Take... software, for example

www.software.ac.uk

Use software

Fundamental to results

69%

92%

n=417

DOI:10.5281/zenodo.1183562

Who's writing all this software?

Research

Software

Engineering

Research

Software

Engineer

~10,000 RSEs worldwide

Image courtesy Ian Cosden

Greater access to skills

=

Better research

Publications

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

The Hidden Role

CC-BY William Murphy 

Data stewards and managers, Librarians, Technicians, Lived Experience Contributors (including patients), Research Software Engineers, PRISMS (Professional Research Investment and Strategy Managers), Professional Services Personnel, Public Engagement Professionals (PEPs), RMAs (Research Managers and Administrators) and Clinical Trials Managers.

120 submissions in total

"I'm passionate about the value of crowdsourcing in giving ordinary people an excuse to get up close to collections"

Dr Mia Ridge, British Library

Libcrowds

https://www.libcrowds.com/

"We hope that the Hidden REF award will help us get the recognition we need to [continue our support beyond the current funding cycle]"

Andy Nobes, INASP

AuthorAID

https://www.authoraid.info/en/

18 street children and youths provided the research team with weekly narrative accounts of what it was like to grow up on the streets of Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe

Growing up on the sreets

Photo: Janine Hunter / Growing up on the Streets

It wasn't all good

  • People were nominated for the wrong reasons

  • It's difficult persuading people that they're in

What's changed?

What's next?

Timeline

Competition: October 2024, 2026 & 2028

Festival: October 2025 & 2027

Updates and news

https://hidden-ref.org/

https://twitter.com/HiddenRef

  1. Ask your line manager about your/your group's role in the next REF

  2. Find out who in your school/faculty/university is dealing with the REF submission and ask them the same

  3. Raise the change to the REF with as many vital-but-unrecognised people as you know

  4. Take part in next year's Hidden REF competition so we can trial how to submit your work

Call to arms 

Thank you!

@sjh5000

ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195, EPSRC Grant no: EP/S021779/1

Licence

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

Access these slides: https://bit.ly/42toSoJ