Cardiff Business School professor appointed to chair REF2029 sub-panel

Professor Rick Delbridge has been appointed to Chair the Research Excellence Framework (REF2029) business and management studies sub-panel.

Sub-panel chairs will lead their units of assessment through the criteria setting phase, beginning later this year, and on through to the final assessment in 2029. Professor Delbridge will lead the business and management studies unit of assessment (UoA17) in Main Panel C (social sciences).

A key first step is the appointment of the criteria phase sub-panel members, which Professor Delbridge will now work on with his deputy chair, Professor Sally Dibb from Coventry University. Panel members are expected to be confirmed later this summer.

On his appointment, Professor Delbridge said: “It’s an honour to have been selected for this important role by the four funding research councils of the UK. I am also grateful for the faith shown in me by the business and management research community. I am acutely aware that these are challenging times for the sector, and I hope to match the wisdom and clear-sightedness of my predecessors in this role.

“It was a pleasure to be part of an efficient and collegiate assessment process last time and I am looking forward to working with colleagues to deliver a process that is recognised as robust and fair this time around.”

REF Director Rebecca Fairbairn said when confirming the appointment of chairs and deputy chairs for the 34 expert sub-panels: "I'm delighted to welcome this outstanding group to lead the REF 2029 sub-panels. Their deep expertise and broad perspectives will be central to building an assessment process that is fair, rigorous, and trusted by the research community.

Professor of Organizational Analysis and co-convenor of the Centre for Innovation Policy (CIPR), Professor Delbridge’s research interests include the management and organisation of innovation, employment relations and Japanese management practices.

A fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, British Academy of Management and the Learned Society of Wales, he was Cardiff University’s Dean of Research, Innovation and Enterprise from 2012 to 2019. During this time, he led the development of the University’s Social Science Research Park (sbarc ¦ spark).

REF is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK higher education providers (HEIs). Its outcomes are used to inform the allocation of around £2 billion per year of public funding for universities’ research.

Find out more about Professor Delbridge and REF2029.