Tag Archives: impact

British Mathematical Colloquium, day 1

Posted on 11/06/2018 by

The British Mathematical Colloquium began in St Andrews today. I will try to report some highlights, but I am recovering from food poisoning, so my account may be a bit sketchy in some places. Also, of course, there is no … Continue reading →

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Initial decisions on REF2021

Posted on 03/09/2017 by

This document has just been released by HEFCE. If you haven’t read it, here are a few small things from my perusal of it. Collaborative research Item 18 of the document states: There was broad support in the consultation for … Continue reading →

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Impact update

Posted on 19/01/2017 by

My comments on impact were cited by Ursula Martin and her co-author Laura Meagher here. Worth a look. PS Here’s the abstract: This empirical study explored how research can generate impacts by investigating different sorts of impacts from one academic … Continue reading →

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The Stern review

Posted on 01/08/2016 by

Last week saw the publication of the Stern review into research assessments in the UK. The only report I saw in the media was on the BBC, here. This suggested that the report said that universities should put more effort … Continue reading →

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The purpose of a university

Posted on 18/07/2011 by

Not so long ago, I said here that the purpose of a university used to be teaching and research; now it is income generation and advancement in the league tables. Well, you know all this, but I would like to … Continue reading →

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Impact factor engineering

Posted on 17/07/2011 by

Goodhart’s law asserts: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. This simple and obvious truth, it seems to me, is at the basis of much of the present crisis in evaluation of teaching (both … Continue reading →

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LMS impact consultation

Posted on 20/05/2011 by

I have just posted the following comment on the LMS consultation blog on impact and the REF. At risk of boring my readers who have heard all this already, I am posting it here as well. I will say briefly … Continue reading →

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Impact: a modest revolt

Posted on 11/04/2011 by

I have discussed the bad effect of the government’s concentration on “impact” of research before; in fact I do keep coming back to it, and you are probably bored, so I won’t rehearse the arguments again. But this is important. … Continue reading →

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