Council member – Research England
Period of appointment – four years, from April 2018 to March 2022.
Professor Naren Barfield is Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the Royal College of Art, the world’s leading university of art and design. He has led significant growth in research intensity, quality and income, the range and number of postgraduate programmes, student enrolments, industry partnerships, executive education, internationalisation, and revenue growth and diversification.
He has held a number of senior leadership positions in UK higher education, and has contributed to the strategic development, support, leadership and assessment of research, knowledge exchange, innovation, and postgraduate research and taught programmes, both nationally and internationally across the creative disciplines.
Naren Barfield is the strategic lead for university engagement for Research England, having previously been a member of:
- RAE2008 Sub-panel 63
- REF2014 Sub-panel 34
- AHRC Peer Review Panel 2: Visual Arts and Media
He is a graduate of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education Top Management Programme.
Internationally, Professor Barfield is recognised as an expert and advocate for the impact and value of arts and humanities research, design-led innovation, and the societal and economic benefits arising from the integration of STEM with the arts to create STEAM.
He has served on advisory groups and panels in the UK and internationally, including in China, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, and has led international partnership agreements with universities in China, Japan, Singapore and the US.
Last updated: 31 March 2022