The Routledge Companion to Research in the Arts

foundations

process was started already in 1987 and has been performed at regular intervals with
the two latest exercises in 2001 and 2008.
a number of review panels look at the results of various subject areas. in 2008
there were 15 main panels and 67 sub- panels. as well as reviewing a great number
of pieces of research work submitted for assessment, panel members assessed the
research environment and esteem indicators in each submission. in the latest review
one of the panels was in charge of the following subjects: art and design; history of
art, architecture and design; drama, dance and performing arts; Communication,
Cultural and media studies; music.
The outcomes of the evaluations expressed on a five- point scale, are the basis for
subsequent research funding. The 2001 Rae resulted in the allocation of 3.6 per cent
of all basic research funding to artistic institutions or departments.
it is obvious that the quality assurance mechanisms in place in the united Kingdom
have been instrumental over the last decade in enhancing the quality of the research
in the arts. They have also contributed to raising the awareness in a wider academic
community about the existence of this particular field and its legitimacy in terms of
generally accepted academic standards.
The quality assurance schemes in some european countries have been influenced
by the uK example. at the same time the intra- european co- operation on quality
assurance in general has been a driving force behind developments in other countries.
an example of this is the irish quality regime now managed by the higher education
and Training awards Council (heTaC). in 2005 the National Guidelines of Good
Practice in the Organisation of PhD Programmes in Irish Universities was published (iuQB
2005) and a second version is now under review. This document is a good example of a
systematic approach to questions of quality assurance in this field based on respect for
the specific problems of assessment in the artistic field.
in the irish document the core issues pertaining to the provision of arts practice-
based research degree programmes are summarized under the following headings:

• understanding practice- based research in the arts and contextualizing it;


• qualifications and programme structures;


• the challenges of supervision;


• the research environment;


• the presentation of the research and assessment;


• towards a code of good practice;


• the economic dividend: current performance and future potential.

a swedish group charged with the evaluation of a number of research projects took a
thorough look at the usefulness of the British Rae approach in a report a few years ago
but concluded that it was not applicable in this particular swedish case. it stressed the
problem of applying one national scheme in another country. according to the group

evaluation methodology in this area may be said to be at the same tentative

experimental stage as the development of the paradigm (if it may be described

as such) of artistic research, or not even there.

(Karlsson 2007: 163)