Impact evaluation in the context of "Research Excellence Framework"

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is undertaken by the four UK higher education funding bodies: Research England, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Medr (preceded by Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)), and the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland (DfE).