Professor Naren Barfield

Professor Naren Barfield is an artist, researcher and academic, and has held a number of senior leadership positions in higher education, contributing to the strategic development of research, knowledge exchange, innovation, and postgraduate programmes across the arts and humanities, both nationally and internationally.  He is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the Royal College of Art, ranked the world’s leading university-level institution for postgraduate art and design and research for an unbroken 10 years (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015-2024).

His academic research and professional practice as an artist ranges across art practice, theory, materials and curatorship, and includes publication of books, chapters and papers in refereed journals and exhibition catalogues; curatorship; more than 80 conference and public presentations internationally since 1991; and more than 100 individual and collaborative exhibitions since 1987 in the UK, Europe, USA, South Africa, Australia, China and Japan, with work in national-level museum collections in a number of countries.  He has successfully secured millions of pounds in research grants, and established research partnerships internationally.

Professor Barfield has served at the highest national levels representing the creative disciplines, with Research England (Council Member 2018-2022; Insight and Engagement Champion 2022-23); Arts and Humanities Research Council (2005-); Research Assessment Exercise (RAE2008); HEFCE REF Focus Group (2011-12); Research Excellence Framework (REF2014); and the Office for Students Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF2023).  He chaired the UK-China Creative Industries Research & Innovation Hub panel (2023); the Understanding the Future of UK-China Research & Innovation Collaboration in the Creative Industries panel (2021); and the Beyond Conference panel (2020).

Internationally, Professor Barfield has been an advisor and assessor on research in China, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, and has led transnational partnership agreements with universities in China, Japan, Singapore and the US.  He has undertaken a number of strategic reviews and assessments for universities, research councils and learned societies globally, and is a visiting professor at a number of overseas universities.