Three Coventry University experts appointed as panellists to help set criteria and evaluate research for REF 2029

Three Coventry University experts have been selected to serve on panels responsible for setting assessment criteria and evaluating the impact and quality of submissions in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029.

REF 2029 is the UK’s national system for assessing the quality and impact of research in higher education institutions and is overseen by the four UK funding bodies: Research England, Scottish Funding Council, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland.

Following the funding bodies’ announcement of appointments across all 34 Units of Assessment (UoAs), Coventry University’s Professor Elena Gaura, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research, Professor Leah Bassel, Politics and International Studies at the Research Centre for Peace and Security and Tess Piper, Research Excellence Manager, are among those appointed.

Tess Piper has been appointed as one of 21 Panel Secretaries for both UoA 19 – Politics and International Studies and UoA 27 – English Language and Literature. In this role, Tess will be supporting the work of the panels, bringing her deep understanding of REF to provide expert guidance.

Professor Elena Gaura has been appointed to the criteria-setting and assessment of Unit of Assessment 12 – Engineering. This year, she also co-chaired the Computer Science and Informatics (UoA11) REF2029 People Culture and Environment Pilot Panel.

Professor Gaura has led engineering research across her career, advancing artificial intelligence, sensing and data technologies in fields from clean energy and digital infrastructure to humanitarian aid. She has built international programmes across Europe, Asia and Africa, mentoring diverse teams, raising capacity for engineering research and promoting inclusive, ethical approaches to engineering.

Professor Leah Bassel joins the assessment phase of UoA 21 – Sociology, bringing her expertise in the political sociology of migration, intersectionality and citizenship. Before her academic career, she worked as an emergency outreach worker in Paris, supporting asylum seekers and creating a circus camp project for refugee youth.

Both Professor Gaura and Tess Piper contributed their expertise to REF 2021, with Elena serving on the Engineering sub-panel and Tess as Secretary to the History sub-panel.

Find out more about REF 2029.