Research England has commissioned an independent evaluation of its Strategic Institutional Research Funding (SIRF). The impact evaluation is delivered by external suppliers RSM UK Consulting LLP and RAND Europe.
Why we are commissioning an impact evaluation of SIRF
UK Research and Innovation has a responsibility to maximise value and outcomes from public money. This includes Strategic Institutional Research Funding delivered to English higher education providers by Research England.
This evaluation aims to:
- support the development of Research England’s capabilities in evaluation of SIRF and wider research funding
- improve the long-term sustainable management of SIRF
- produce evidence to support the development of research funding policy
- produce findings to inform future government spending reviews
- produce outcomes to support current and future SIRF policy decisions
The evaluation will investigate our current SIRF funding streams, by exploring the current approaches undertaken by institutions across the English higher education and research landscape, and the mechanisms we use to allocate SIRF funding.
What the impact evaluation is focusing on
The aim of this work is to evaluate the impact of SIRF and provide evidence on the impact, effectiveness and value of Research England’s formula research funding. The funding streams we are looking at are:
- mainstream quality-related (QR) funding
- ring-fenced funding (including Enhancing Research Culture Fund, Policy Support Fund, Participatory Support Fund)
- QR charity funding element
- QR business element
- QR research degree programme supervision fund
- specialist provider element
- Research Capital Investment Fund
This will be achieved by developing and testing a theory of change, and engaging with a representative sample of English higher education providers to get insights on how SIRF operates and is used across different scales and diversity of providers.
How the evaluation is carried out
The evaluation project will run from July 2024 until autumn 2025. The evaluation can be divided into three broad phases which will produce iterative outputs.
- Phase One: design and development of the methodology (by end of autumn 2024).
- Phase Two: testing the methodology and qualitative interviews with English HEPs (by end of spring 2025).
- Phase Three: summary of findings and production of a final evaluation report (by early autumn 2025).
How we govern the project
Research England provide the overall governance support for the undertaking of the external evaluation. The evaluation project team is advised by an independent SIRF Impact Evaluation Advisory Group. The advisory group will:
- provide guidance, advice and constructive feedback on the direction and delivery of the impact evaluation project to Research England and supplier RSM UK Consulting LLP and RAND Europe
- help disseminate and promote the findings of the evaluation
- advise on how to use the findings of the evaluation to inform future research funding policy for Research England
- acknowledge, where appropriate, UKRI activity and what is happening more broadly in the sector in this space
Members of the advisory group are drawn from university senior management teams. They have significant expertise in evaluation design and analysis, policy and strategic development and an understanding of Research England SIRF.
Ask a question about the SIRF evaluation
Email: researchpolicy@re.ukri.org