We will share your data with the following third parties:
- UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
The REF is managed by the REF team, based at Research England (RE), on behalf of the four UK higher education funding bodies. RE is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and so we will send some of the information we hold about you to UKRI for the purpose of the REF2021. Under this arrangement UKRI has the role of ‘data controller’ for personal data submitted by us to the REF.
UKRI have provided us with the following information about how they will use and process your data:
'UKRI may pass your data, or parts of it, to any of the following organisations that need it to inform the selective distribution of public funds for research and to carry out their statutory functions connected with funding higher education:
- Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland (DfE)
- Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)
- Scottish Funding Council (SFC)'
UKRI and the organisations listed above will use the information to analyse and monitor the REF2021. This may result in information being released to other users including academic researchers or consultants (commissioned by the funding bodies), to carry out research or analysis, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Where information not previously published is released to third parties, this will be anonymised where practicable.
UKRI will require that anyone who has access to your data, held in UKRI’s records, paper or electronic, will respect its confidentiality and will only process it in accordance with instructions issued for the purposes specified by UKRI.
Parts of your data will be passed to the REF expert panels and the Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel (whose members are independent of UKRI) for the purpose of conducting a systematic evaluation of submissions, in accordance with predetermined criteria and methods. All panel members are bound by confidentiality arrangements.
The results of the assessment exercise will be published by UKRI, on behalf of the four UK higher education funding bodies, in April 2022.
Those parts of submissions that contain factual data and textual information about research activity will also be published by UKRI, on behalf of the four UK higher education funding bodies, and will be made available online. Published information is likely to include textual information including impact case studies in which you may be referenced. Your name and job title may be included in this textual information. Other personal details will normally be removed.
Under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR, you have the right to see and receive a copy of any personal information that UKRI holds about you. Further information about the Act and GRPR, and guidance on making a subject access request, can be found in the UKRI privacy notice.
If you have any concerns about your information being used by UKRI for these purposes, please contact: Data Protection Officer, UK Research and Innovation, Polaris House, Swindon, SN2 1FL or email: [email protected].
- external reviewers
Textual parts of the REF submission (impact case studies and environment templates) may be shared with external reviewers during the process of submission development.
Where we share your data with a third party external reviewers, we will seek to share the minimum amount necessary. This may include the information being transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area. Such transfers will only take place with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure the confidentiality and security of your personal information. If you require any information about these safeguards, you may contact us (see data protection officer email address below).
