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Part 2 sets out how Warwick identifies staff contracts that carry Significant Responsibility for Research. Warwick states that all staff on Teaching and Research contracts are expected to meet Significant Responsibility for Research criteria.

The criteria are drawn from REF 2029 guidance and include:

• Explicit time and resources for research (e.g., workload allocations)
• Expectation to conduct independent research
• Job descriptions and objectives indicating research responsibilities

The section also explains the volume measure, how Significant Responsibility for Research affects eligibility, and how contract types (Research‑only and Teaching and Research) contribute to institutional FTE calculations.

Part 3 explains how Warwick determines which Research‑Only staff are independent researchers, as required by REF 2029. All Teaching and Research staff are typically automatically considered independent. Research‑only staff must be assessed to determine independence.

Indicators of independence include:

• Acting as Principal Investigator on an externally funded project
• Holding competitively awarded fellowships requiring independence
• Leading a research group or major work package
• May include significant involvement in project design and interpretation.

It outlines a multi‑stage process to determine researcher independence involving the Unit of Assessment Management Teams, REF Planning, REF Submissions Steering Group, and final approval by the REF Executive Group.

Within this section we also detail communication with staff, the appeal process, and set out institutional governance.

Part 4 outlines how Warwick assigns eligible staff contracts to Units of Assessment based on staff members’ primary academic or research responsibilities. Allocations must be justified, documented, and auditable whilst noting that HESA cost centres may not always align with the appropriate Unit of Assessment.

The process includes:

• Identification of eligible contracts
• Initial Unit of Assessment recommendations
• Review and consistency checks
• Final approval

Part 5 outlines the key principles and procedures for the University’s approach to selecting research outputs for REF 2029, making clear that the overriding criterions is the intrinsic quality of the research output.

Units of Assessment must submit a number of outputs equal to 2.5x their volume measure, rounded to the nearest whole number.

Key processes within the section, and as required by REF 2029, include:

• Establishing a substantive link between researcher and institution
• Checking eligible employment relationships
• Rules for outputs from former staff
• Processes for interdisciplinary outputs and outputs submitted to multiple Units of Assessment

The section also sets out procedures to support diverse output types, including practice-based, digital, and multilingual research. Finally, it explains how submissions will ensure outputs are representative of the research conducted during the REF period, aligned with responsible research assessment principles and free from structural bias.