From the IHA Impact in the Humanities event 8 June held in QUB and co-sponsored by InterTradeIreland. Panel One: Lessons regarding Impact from REF 2014 What can the experiences of Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster tell us about how HEIs should engage with Impact case studies, in exercises such as REF?

1. ulster.ac.uk
Art, Design &
Architecture Impact
Ulster University
Professor Karen Fleming
Director Art, Architecture and Design Research Institute

2. ulster.ac.uk
REF2014
Overall
52K staff in 154 Institutions
191 K outputs
6900 Impact case studies
Art & Design
1604 staff in 84 Institutions
6356 outputs
239 Impact case studies

3. REF2014
Ulster Proportions of Submitted UOA by FTE
03: Allied Health Professions, Dentistry,
Nursing and Pharmacy Nursing
03: Allied Health Professions, Dentistry,
Nursing and Pharmacy Biomed
04: Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
07: Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences
11: Computer Science and Informatics
13: Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
Metallurgy and Materials
16: Architecture, Built Environment and
Planning
19: Business and Management Studies
20: Law
21: Politics and International Studies
22: Social Work and Social Policy
25: Education
26: Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and
Tourism
28: Modern Languages and Linguistics Modern
Lang
28: Modern Languages and Linguistics Celtic
Studies
29: English Language and Literature
30: History
34: Art and Design: History, Practice and
Theory
UOA34

4. Ulster. Unit of Assessment 34 Art
and Design: History Theory and
Practice
UoA34 Overall GPA 3.84 79% overall 3*&4*
UoA34 Output GPA 3.03 76% of outputs 3*&4*
UoA34 Environment 100% 3*&4*
Highest 4* outputs of any subject in a Northern Ireland University
24.8 FTE, 30 people
37.17 PhD Completions
£4,254,941 research income
REF2014 Outputs
Blue x4*
Red 3*
Green 2*
Purple 1*
no Unclassified

5. REF2014
IMPACT
R E F 2 0 1 4 S e c t o r A v e r a g e
4* 3* 2* 1* uc
Overall 30 46 20 3 1
Outputs 22.4 49.5 23.9 3.6 1
Impact 44 39.9 13 2.4 0.7
Environment 44.6 39.9 13.2 2.2 0.1

6. RAE2008
SUBJECT Art and Design
RANKINGS - Numerous variations on ranking
Impact Elsevier 4* 4/84
Overall Elsevier 4* =3/84
Environment Elsevier 4*+3* =1/84
QI=quality index GPA =grade Point Average
Overall
Quality
4* 4*+3* By
GPA
By QI Power 4*
FTE
4*+3*
FTE
Volume Proportion
staff
submitted
RANK 3/84 17/84 7/84 6/84 15/84 9/84 18/84 16/84 8/84
Top
5
Top
20
Top
10
Top
10
Top
20
Top
10
Top
20
Top
20
Top
8

7. What was assessed?
Cultural. Social. Economic
NOT impacts on research or the
advancement of academic knowledge
within the higher education sector
(whether in the UK or internationally)
Criteria– ‘reach’ and ‘significance’

8. Impact Case Studies
Underpinning Research
• Solo authored outputs
• Artworks and exhibitions

9. Collaboration with National
institutions

11. Doherty: On location in the Huguenot House, Kassel, December, 2011

12. Reach:
860,000 people visit dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel

13. Impact Case Studies
Underpinning Research
• Solo authored outputs
• Artworks and exhibitions
• Curated Exhibitions

14. Exhibition Curation

15. Rethinking Monet
Professor Richard Thomson

16. Significance
Beyond the artwork …
Enhance the public understanding of X, through public exhibition
and display, exhibition catalogues and monographs, broadcast
media, web-based media, and public events
developing and refining a methodology for both the production of
artworks relating to X
The inclusion of the artworks in national collections, contributes
to a long term understanding of the nations involvement in X

17. Impact Case Studies
Underpinning Research
• Solo authored outputs
• Artworks and exhibitions
• Curated Exhibitions
• Policy

18. Planning and
Policy Impact

19. Impact Case Studies
Underpinning Research
• Solo authored outputs
• Artworks and exhibitions
• Curated Exhibitions
• Policy
• Public engagement, events, festivals

20. Vehicles for impact
Events, festivals

21. Impact Case Studies
Underpinning Research
• Solo or signature authored art works and artifacts
• Exhibitions, performances
• Curated Exhibitions
• Policy
• Public engagement, events, festivals
• Design

22. Design
Royal College of Art :Design for
Patient Safety: Creating
significant professional,
cultural and commercial
impact through innovative
design in a range of health
care settings
Royal College of Art :Enhancing
industrial capability to
innovate in vehicle and
transport design, nationally
and internationally

23. Design: Cardiff Met University

24. Observations on art practices and impact
J Cummins Go Home (2010 – 2013)
D. Wylie Outposts Kandahar Province
P Seawright UXB 2008

25. Art practices potential for impact
Documentary film and photography

26. War and Medicine
David Cotterell

27. Vehicles for impact
Film making

28. Jane Thorburn, Westminster

29. Vehicles for impact
Documentary Film

30. Emma Davie,
Edinburgh College of Art

31. REF Impact agenda
has changed
behaviour
• Cross disciplinary,
transdisciplinary
• Relationships outside the
institution
• Media and documentation
• Cultural institutions

32. Next REF?
Optimising opportunities
• Collaboration across units of assessment and institutions
• National art institutions
• Panel of peers
• User assessors – Nominations
‘Institutions should be permitted to submit impacts that evolve
over long time-frames to successive REF exercises, with each REF
assessing the specific impacts that have taken place during the
assessment period.’

33. Questions?
K.Fleming@ulster.ac.uk