Professor Dianne Berry to chair REF 2021 diversity panel

Wednesday, 22 March 2017

Professor Dianne Berry OBE has been appointed to be chair of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel (EDAP).

The panel has been established to advise the funding bodies, the REF team and the REF panels on developing and implementing measures to promote equality and diversity in the next REF.

Professor Dianne Berry has extensive relevant experience. She was previously chair of the Equality and Diversity Advisory Group and then the EDAP for REF2014. For RAE2008, she was Chair of the panel for Unit of Assessment 44: Psychology.

She has been Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Dean of Social Sciences, and Head of the School of Psychology. Dianne is also chair of Vitae’s External Advisory Board and has chaired its ‘Every Researcher Counts’ Advisory Group.

She said: “I am proud and excited to be chairing this panel again. There is still much to be done in this important area. We need to ensure that equality and diversity considerations are taken fully into account in all stages of REF planning, and that we build on the many advances made in REF2014.”

The Research Excellence Framework is conducted on behalf of the four UK higher education funding bodies. These bodies are committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity in research careers, and strongly encourage institutions to have fair and transparent processes to support the work of all their researchers.