The Karateka vs the Sumo Wrestler: what REF 2029 means for research leadership in UK universities

This blog was kindly authored by Dr Antonios Kelarakis, Reader in Polymers and Nanomaterials, University of Lancashire

UK universities increasingly reward size, visibility and institutional influence. Yet many of the discoveries that underpin scientific progress come from researchers whose work is slow, specialist and largely invisible – the academic karateka, whose precision contrasts sharply with the highly visible, institution-shaping sumo wrestler. With reforms to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) for 2029 confirmed in December 2025, there is now an opportunity to rebalance what we value in research leadership and to better align institutional incentives with how knowledge is actually produced.

In today’s academic world, two very different research styles are stepping onto the mat.

The karateka is defined by focus and precision. They dedicate themselves to mastering a single research field, refining a theory, improving a method or laying the foundations for a new diagnostic or experimental technique. Every publication is carefully considered, every contribution is incremental but cumulative. Their ambition is depth rather than scale, and they aim to reach previously inaccessible insights. These researchers often form the invisible engine of scientific progress. Their work may attract little attention beyond specialist communities, yet its influence is long-lasting and foundational.

The sumo wrestler, by contrast, plays a broader game. Their strength lies in size, coordination and visibility. They lead large research groups, oversee multiple interdisciplinary projects and accumulate titles, affiliations and advisory roles. Their calendars are filled with conferences, policy briefings and media engagement. They shape research agendas as much as individual ideas and act as the public face of modern academia. While the karateka advances knowledge through precision, the sumo wrestler moves institutions through mass and momentum.

A shifting balance of power

For much of scientific history, the karateka was the primary driver of discovery. The laws of physics, advances in chemistry and the development of new materials and analytical techniques have typically emerged from decades of focused work by scholars deeply embedded in a single domain.

In recent years, however, the balance in UK academia has tilted. Universities increasingly reward visibility, scale, collaboration and institutional contribution – metrics that naturally favour the sumo wrestler. Funding requirements emphasise partnerships, pathways to impact and the management of large consortia. Universities respond rationally by supporting researchers who can deliver coordination, profile and strategic alignment.

The karateka, meanwhile, often struggles to justify slow, methodical work in systems dominated by short-term indicators. Their contributions are essential, but they are not always easily captured by institutional performance metrics or institutional narratives.

Why REF matters now

The REF has always been a powerful signal of what universities should value. Decisions taken as part of the REF 2029 reforms strengthen the emphasis on research culture, long-term contribution and the environments that sustain excellence, alongside continued recognition of impact.

Under the revised framework, assessment is weighted across three elements: Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (55%), Engagement and Impact (25%) and Strategy, People and Research Environment (20%), assessed at both disciplinary and institutional levels. This represents a clear shift from REF 2021, where the role of environment was more limited.

This change matters. By strengthening the role of research environment and contribution, REF 2029 creates an opening for universities to recognise how excellence is actually sustained; through deep expertise, stable methods, supportive cultures and long-term institutional investment. Research outputs remain central, but they no longer crowd out other forms of contribution to the same extent.

Karateka-style scholarship has often struggled to fit neatly into REF narratives. Breakthroughs take time, develop incrementally and may not translate into demonstrable impact within a single cycle. Yet many celebrated impact case studies ultimately rest on foundational research generated by specialist researchers whose work is less visible and harder to narrate.

From critique to policy

The reforms give universities greater scope and responsibility to act differently. REF 2029 does not dictate outcomes, but it reshapes the conditions under which institutions define excellence.

In practical terms, universities can now use the framework to reaffirm the value of:

• deep, specialist expertise, even when audiences are narrow
• long-term, foundational inquiry that underpins later impact
• precision scholarship that strengthens methods and disciplines
• small, focused teams that are often more intellectually productive than large consortia

REF 2029 offers a chance to rebalance the contest without lowering the bar for excellence. Protecting space for karateka-style research is not a retreat from impact; it is a precondition for it. When depth is preserved, leadership has something genuinely worth amplifying: impact that endures rather than merely dazzles.