PBRF Support  

• The Performance Based Research Fund was first introduced in 2003 and is administered by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC)
• Based on the UK's Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) introduced in 1986, now replaced by Research Excellence Framework (REF)
• Other countries have related 'performance' systems, e.g. Australia has Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) , South Africa has the NRF Researcher Rating.
• Replaced previous 'top ups' schemes based on EFTS so is not new money; we must now compete for funds removed from the previous EFTS funding system that make up the PBRF fund.
  
• Intent of PBRF is to increase the average quality of research, public information about research, ensure research continues to support degree and postgraduate teaching, amongst other things
• Attempts to follow or utilise existing academic 'norms'

AUT University staff can find further information about PBRF on the staff intranet.

• Research is original investigation undertaken in order to contribute to knowledge and understanding and, in the case of some disciplines, cultural innovation or aesthetic refinement.
• It typically involves enquiry of an experimental or critical nature driven by hypotheses or intellectual positions capable of rigorous assessment by experts in agiven discipline.
• It is an independent, creative, cumulative and often long-term activity conducted by people with specialist knowledge about the theories, methods and information concerning their field of enquiry. Its findings must be open to scrutiny and formal evaluation by others in the field and this may be achieved through publication or public presentation.
• In some disciplines, the investigation and its results may be embodied in the form of artistic works, designs or performance.

The PBRF system is a 'mixed model' with three components:

• External Research Income (15% of fund)
  - frequency: annual
  - calculated: rolling 3 year average
• Research Degree Completions (25% of fund)
  - frequency: annual
  - calculated: rolling 3 year average
  - masters by thesis/project, doctorates (>0.75 efts or 90+ credits with a wholly research component)
• Quality Evaluation of Staff (60% of fund)
  - frequency: 2003, 2006 (partial), 2012
  - calculated: on the basis of the last assessment

All 3 components provide a rich volume of data regarding research activity with significant information being made public, various rankings and a multitude of analyses being conducted.

The result of an individual researcher's assessment is a quality category:

• A, B, C, C(NE), R or R(NE)
  where NE=new and emerging

The quality categories have funding weightings attached to reflect their PBRF funding value:

• A = 5
• B = 3
• C or C(NE) = 1
• R or R(NE) = 0


Funding in 2008:

• A = $33,500 to $83,000
• B = $20,067 to $50,155
• C or C(NE) = $6,600 to $16,700
  depending on subject weighting (e.g. Education 1 vs Public health 2.5) and FTE

• PBRF quality evaluation guidelines 2012
• PBRF evaluating research excellence: the 2006 assessment
• PBRF evaluating research excellence: the 2003 assessment - Overview and key findings