ISLAMABAD, JAN 30 /DNA/ – The Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, has finalised Research Excellence Framework (REF) model for Pakistan, after a detailed five-day consultative workshop to strengthen research quality, accountability, and global competitiveness.
The policy framework – ready to pilot in 10 universities before its full-scale roll-out – has been designed to promote a transparent and internationally compatible mechanism to examine quality, environment, and real-world impact of research.
The HEC workshop held in partnership with the British Council Pakistan under the Pak-UK Education Gateway covered a series of detailed deliberations and comprehensive consultations among senior HEC and British Council leadership, academic stakeholders, and international advisory team comprising four technical experts from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.
During the course of consultations, intensive discussions and stakeholder engagements took place through roundtables, briefings, and debrief sessions as well as field visits to examine institutional readiness, focusing on governance foundations and strategic roles, assessment design, ethics framework, operational processes, digital systems, and funding model. It has been ensured that the framework is in line with the international best practices while ensuring alignment with the national priorities.
The opening days of the consultations were dedicated to establishing the governance and decision-making architecture of REF. The participants reached agreement on institutional arrangements for piloting and phased national roll-out, including the legislative and regulatory pathway within HEC and the proposed role of REF Council. The following sessions brought under consideration the assessment and oversight mechanism with satiating discussions on three core dimensions of assessment – research outputs, research environment, and societal impact.
In their closing remarks, senior officials from HEC, British Council, and the UK experts emphasised that the finalisation of REF will transform Pakistan’s research ecosystem. They termed the REF finalisation as a major step forward in HEC’s efforts to align Pakistan’s research system with global standards, enhance accountability, and maximise the societal and economic impact of publicly funded research. They underlined that the framework will provide a strong foundation for piloting and future refinement. They affirmed that the outcomes of the pilot will lead to refinement of the framework for a full-scale roll-out.
The successful finalisation of REF is a testimony to strong HEC-British Council partnership, and it reflects HEC’s commitment to upgrading the research activities and maximising their socio-economic impact in the country.
