Professor Crispin Coombs has been appointed as the Strategic Academic Lead for REF Impact beginning 1 August 2025 and continues to serve as an Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at Loughborough Business School. Professor Coombs was a REF 2021 sub-panel member for Business and Management and has worked as an RAE 2026 impact consultant for Hong Kong Baptist University.
We have also appointed a number of Unit of Assessment (UoA) leads for REF 2029. The REF is assessed across multiple UoAs, each representing a distinct area of research. We are planning to submit to 16 UoAs. Our newly appointed UoA Leads will play a key and central role in coordinating the development of our submission, shaping and delivering our strategy, and driving excellence and impact across all discipline areas.
Each UoA Lead role is appointed at 0.2 FTE, with postholders taking up their positions on 1 September 2025.
We would like to thank all those who expressed interest and congratulate the successful appointees.