The Higher Education Commission has finalised the Research Excellence Framework after a five-day consultative workshop designed to strengthen research quality, accountability and global competitiveness across Pakistan.
The policy framework is ready to be piloted in 10 universities before a full national roll-out and establishes a transparent, internationally compatible mechanism to assess research outputs, institutional environment and societal impact.
The workshop was held in partnership with British Council Pakistan under the Pak-UK Education Gateway and included senior leadership from HEC and the British Council alongside an international advisory team of technical experts from the University of Sussex. Extensive stakeholder engagement ensured the Research Excellence Framework reflects both global best practices and national priorities.
Deliberations took place through roundtables, briefings, debrief sessions and field visits to evaluate institutional readiness. Participants examined governance foundations and strategic roles, assessment design, ethics frameworks, operational processes, digital systems and a sustainable funding model to support implementation.
Early sessions focused on establishing the governance and decision-making architecture for piloting and phased roll-out, including a legislative and regulatory pathway within HEC and the proposed role of a REF Council. The assessment structure centres on three core dimensions: research outputs, research environment and societal impact.
Senior officials from HEC, the British Council and UK experts said finalising the Research Excellence Framework marks a major step in aligning Pakistan’s research system with international standards, enhancing accountability and maximising the societal and economic return on publicly funded research. They noted that pilot results will inform further refinement ahead of a full-scale implementation.
The outcome of the workshop reflects a strong HEC–British Council partnership and underscores HEC’s commitment to upgrading research activity and increasing its socio-economic impact throughout Pakistan.
