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APRIL 2010 Research News DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CULTURE CENTRE FOR RUSSIAN MUSIC ELECTRONIC MUSIC STUDIO AFGHAN MUSIC UNIT image: Cardew ‘Treatise’ © Hinrichsen/Peters London FROM THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT One measure of the vitality of a department’s research together scholars with overlapping interests, and profile is to consider the activities of its research in what areas we seek to impact upon the national groupings. While this may give only a partial view and international consciousness, both inside and of what is going on — there is much research activity outside the academy. in this and other departments which is unrelated to Such issues will be increasingly important in specific research groups — it nevertheless provides the coming years. The financial stresses now being a useful barometer of the overall research climate. felt in the higher education sector (and we are being In January our various research centres and units repeatedly warned that we are only at the beginning appraised the Department Board of their activities of a sustained period of contraction) will oblige us over the past year, and an impressive list it was. to concentrate our resources in those areas where Activities ranged from the collaboration of Sound we can demonstrate real expertise. The re-branding Practice Research with Goldsmiths Screen School in of the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 as the relation to the work of filmmaker Sally Potter and Research Excellence Framework 2013 may be seen composer/improviser Fred Frith; SPR’s involvement by some as a bureaucratic sleight of terminological in the large-scale Immersive Audio experiment on hand; but, in contradistinction to recent trends, it the College Green, which certainly made an impact is becoming increasingly apparent that research on many around the College; the Centre for Russian funding will be concentrated on areas in which Music’s role in the Schnittke festival at London’s institutions and departments can demonstrate South Bank; and the Centre for Contemporary levels of international ‘excellence’: being simply Music Cultures’ support of composition symposia ‘good’ at many things may be laudable, but it will in Athens and with the Park Lane Group in London. not be fundable. These are only a few examples taken from a much Our research activity as a whole, and the longer list of other activities, symposia, visiting groupings on which a proportion of it is grounded, speakers, and so forth; space does not allow me to are in good shape. But this should not divert us outline the work of the Afghanistan Music Unit, from the need always to reflect on how we make the the Serge Prokofiev Archive, or our involvement most of the significant levels of research expertise in other College research groupings such as the we have in the Department, whether we have Music Computing Group in the Department of the right structures in place to capitalise on that Computing. expertise, and whether we have the right support These research groupings are important mechanisms to ensure that our research centres can for many reasons, not least because they reference operate to their maximum potential. iconically what the Department is ‘about’; that is, they communicate to the wider world where the Stephen Cottrell Department’s research thrusts lie, how we bring FROM THE DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH The first audit of Universities via the Research about and objections to assessing academic research Excellence Framework (REF) is due to take place according to indicators of ‘impact’ and has stated during 2013, with the current deadline for the that the exercise will ‘embrace a wide definition submission of material being the end of 2012. That of impact, including benefits to the economy, will be just five years from the last RAE assessment society, culture, public policy and services, health, of University research outputs over a 7-year period the environment, international development and (2001-7). HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding quality of life’. Council for England) have recently (25 March) The consultation has allowed HEFCE to responded to feedback that came from a consultation reach a decision about many key aspects of the REF conducted during 2009 and reported that there although some highly significant elements have is widespread support for block-grant research still to be decided. These include the ‘configuration funding; for research to be monitored and evaluated of panels, the method for assessing impact, and via peer review; and for the quality of research the weightings between outputs, impact and outputs to be the primary factor in assessment environment’. In addition, the overall timetable along with consideration of research environment. is still to be finalised. Further and final decisions HEFCE acknowledges that there are some concerns about these issues will be made later in the Autumn 1 of this year, after the results of the current pilot and discussed its ethos and the various schemes exercise are known. The ongoing pilot exercise available. The Leverhulme Trust is a privately involves 29 institutions. HEFCE reports that the funded organisation and the Trustees are not institutions have made submissions and that these under pressure to be publicly accountable to ‘the are being considered by expert panels made up taxpayer’ in the same way as the research councils. of ‘a broadly even mix of leading researchers and In general they will fund research that is motivated prominent, highly qualified represent-atives of the by the vision of an individual in which there is an audiences, beneficiaries and users of research from emphasis on asking original questions. The Trust across a wide range of sectors relevant to each Unit is keen on studies that may represent ‘a departure of Assessment’. You can find further details atwww. from established working patterns’. Elsewhere, Sir hefce.ac.uk/ref. A conference is due to take place Richard has spoken of how the academic research at Kings College in June at which the results of the environment has become characterised by ‘hyper- pilot exercise will be disseminated (details have yet evaluation’, and at Goldsmiths he described how the to be announced). Trust likes to be seen as operating at a distance from It is worth noting some further points arising the demands of government agendas and utilitarian from HEFCE’s recent deliberations about the REF. orthodoxies. An example of this ethos is the Trust’s First, a definition of ‘research’ has been provided. arrangements for funding Artists in Residence. As we know, what counts as research is by no This scheme is firmly designed not to provide means straightforward in a music department, with conventional artistic research or teaching input into our activities including compositions, performances an arts department. Instead, it is set up to ‘bring and audio-visual practices and materials. Research artists into research and study environments where is defined as ‘a process of investigation leading creative art is not part of the normal curriculum or to new insights effectively shared’. Note the activities of the host department’. Sir Richard spoke ‘effectively shared’. Second, and related to this, of the Trust’s desire for such a practice to generate the criteria for assessing the quality of outputs will ‘conflict’ and to facilitate a radical exchange of be ‘rigour, originality and significance’. There is views and ideas. He gave examples of visual artists nothing particularly unusual about that. Third, to being resident in Kew Botanical Gardens and at the quote from the HEFCE annex of initial decisions: LSE library. He suggested that the Trust would not ‘All submitted outputs will need to include evidence fund poets to join English Departments, but it may of the research process, and present the insights in well fund a poet to be artist in residence in a physics a form meeting the needs of its potential audiences.’ laboratory. The Leverhulme Trust has a range of This is something we should give careful attention awards that are designed to be responsive to the to when thinking about the material that we wish ideas of researchers. It rarely sets specific agendas to submit for evaluation. Panels may have a degree (notable exceptions have been the recent themed of flexibility when deciding how to use citation programmes The Impact of Diasporas and Beauty). information, and when evaluating how research There will be a call for proposals later this year has ‘met the needs’ of ‘users’/ audiences (these for one such scheme which Sir Richard indicated criteria will become clearer once the panels are would be on the theme of ‘resilience’. (Although fully constituted). Practice-based research will need this is still to be publicly confirmed it is certainly an to provide ‘output statements’ which include a idea relevant to the study of music and musicians). ‘description of the research process’. This is a further Further details of the Trust and its various schemes issue that we should now be thinking about. Fourth, can be found at http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/ the REF will aim to evaluate ‘impact’ according to grants_awards/. complete submissions covering a range of activities I would like to record my thanks to John and not at the level of an individual researcher. The Drever for standing in for me during the Autumn assessment will focus on selective ‘case studies’ when term; for chairing the Research Committee and for assessing this aspect and such selective impacts will dealing with an increase in paperwork that arose be judged ‘from across a broad portfolio of research during this period due to the REF consultation activity’. Staff should feel (slightly) reassured process. John relieved me of my administrative that HEFCE will not be expecting each submitted duties as I was granted study leave for that term researcher to demonstrate the impact of their work.