Staff, supervisors and research students should familiarise themselves with the following definitions of research as provided by funding councils and governing bodies for research in the UK. Please note that other funding bodies may have their own research definitions and these may differ from the examples below. Please ensure that all guidance notes are studied thoroughly before applying for any funding.

Arts & Humanities Research Council Definition of Research

Joint statement of the Research Councils' Skills Training Requirements

Research Excellence Framework 2014

For the purposes of the REF2014, research is defined as a process of investigation leading to new insights, effectively shared. It includes work of direct relevance to the needs of commerce, industry, and to the public and voluntary sectors; scholarship; the invention and generation of ideas, images, performances, artefacts including design, where these lead to new or substantially improved insights; and the use of existing knowledge in experimental development to produce new or substantially improved materials, devices, products and processes, including design and construction. It excludes routine testing and routine analysis of materials, components and processes such as for the maintenance of national standards, as distinct from the development of new analytical techniques. It also excludes the development of teaching materials that do not embody original research. It includes research that is published, disseminated or made publicly available in the form of assessable research outputs, and confidential reports.