A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact Dr Louise Atkins Jo Lakey

Impact in Brunel’s College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences UoA Number of case studies 18 Economics and Econometrics 4 19 Business and Management Studies 7 20 Law 21 Politics and International Studies 3 23 Sociology 2 24 Anthropology and Development Studies 25 Education 29 English Language and Literature 35 Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts 36 Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management Working on the assumption that CBASS will submit to broadly the same UoAs as last time – similar number of case studies Since REF2014 Brunel has moved from central support for impact to College support Very diverse disciplines – particular struggles in disciplines in Main Panel D (hence starting there) Caveat – this is not us giving a definitive solution – just sharing our approach to starting to support academics in evidencing impact A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact

‘What do you need from me?!’ ‘There’s always a lot of agitation around evidence’ Difficulties in evidencing impact in Panel D areas ‘Where do I start?!’ ‘What do you need from me?!’ ‘I don’t have that kind of information, and I haven't got time to go back and fetch it now!’ Our motivations for creating the guide To help people collect the right kind of evidence To ensure that people have the right kind of evidences built into their project for the future A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact

Existing Resources REF2014 Assessment Criteria: Impact REF2014 Impact Case Studies The Societal and Economic Impacts of Academic Research: International perspectives on good practice and managing evidence (Digital Science, 2016) Collecting Research Impact Evidence: Best Practice Guidance for the Research Community (Vertigo Ventures & Digital Science, 2016) The Impact of Higher Education Leadership, Governance and Management Research: Mining the 2014 Research Excellence Framework Impact Case Studies (Morrow, 2016) Some Resources exist – but not fit for purpose Need a place where all the information is brought together Practical document Topic specific A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact

Creating ‘A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact’ Introducing impact and outlining the characteristics of 4* impact (from REF2014) How to use the guide / contents Stages of impact Description of 8 types of impact Case study examples from REF2014 to evidence the 8 types of impact Further support and resources A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact

Academics/ Researchers Research process Wider stakeholders Academics/ Researchers Research user High level impact Immediate affect on audience Affect of co-produced research on individuals Engaging with wider communities Follow up activity (engagement workshops) Engaging with policy makers, public services or private businesses Civil society Cultural life Economic prosperity Education Policy Making Public discourse Public Services Creation of products and services to be utilised by wider audiences Audience reaction to output Immediate feedback on artistic output Evidenced through Actions Influencing / creating specialist area of exploration Giving expert advice Conferences Citations Scholarly outputs Reviews Media attention 1 3 2 4

Examples from REF2014 A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact

Further support and resources Identify  Plan Carry out Capture Evidence Report Results Describing 'the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy', impact can be described in a variety of ways.   In REF2014, impact was defined by HEFCE as 'an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia'. Most funders now want to see evidence of impact plans which are effectively built into research from conception. As a result, increasing importance is placed on pathways to impact statements. For further assistance and information on this stage contact: Brunel RSDO Impact and engagement activities can take place at any point during the research cycle, but the earlier collaboration begins with stakeholders and/or beneficiaries the better. Once your stakeholders have been identified, Brunel Engage and the Corporate Relations departments can help you to develop relationships and grow your potential for impact. As impact develops we want to capture a clear picture of all elements of the activity, making sure that we can provide clear evidence to back up each impact claim. Brunel captures and stores impact evidence through the VV Impact Tracker which is populated and managed at college level. Please make sure that you are working with the impact administrator to capture information that you must provide to the CBASS Impact Administrator to create high quality impact case studies. For the development of strong impact cases it is important that the results and outputs of your research are visible. The Library has dedicated research support staff who can provide guidance and training on research data management, copyright and other research integrity as areas well as open access. Contact: library@brunel.ac.uk. Presentation Title

Initial Feedback This is really useful This is great and definitely needed Clear and helpful Want the same thing for each panel Want more examples Would like to explore further the characteristics of a 4* output A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact

Challenges Difficulties in: Creating strict processes and guidelines Identifying most appropriate ways that the resource is delivered Transforming engagement into action Providing the guidance post-award A Practical Guide to Evidencing Impact

Thank You Louise.atkins@brunel.ac.uk Jo.lakey@brunel.ac.uk