Pathways to Impact Lynne McCorriston Research & Business Development Manager College of Science and Engineering

What is impact? REF definition is… ‘an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia’ And Pathways to impact should be an action plan – how are you going to make it possible for this change to happen?

Responsible Research and Innovation Involving society in science and innovation early in the processes of R&I to align its outcomes with the values of society. Connecting different aspects of the relationship between R&I and society: public engagement, open access, gender equality, science education, ethics, and governance. 

RRI RRI encourages you to involve whoever might be involved in the research to consider RRI when developing projects from the outset. Consider why you are undertaking this research societal impacts of your work who might be affected/impacted by the research outcomes Can you build a team of stakeholders who may be affected by, or have a view on the research? RRI is an ongoing process through design and implementation and into evaluation stages

What is impact? EPSRC graphic, but really could be applied for any research proposal…

What can you do? People: Develop skills for researchers on the project, training, secondments and exchanges Knowledge: Create new protocols or techniques, publish these in wider academic press/trade journals, license to companies, patent Economic: work with industry if you have partners, if not build partnerships. Host workshops, network, use trade orgs. What will these enable? New products, increase revenue, Set up spin outs, licence or patent new discoveries Societal: Public engagement – participate in science festivals, engage with schools, create resources (web pages, apps, training, books), write articles for public Policy: Input into or update regulations, give expert evidence…

Pathways to Impact How will impact actually happen? Engagement isn’t enough What mechanisms need to be in place? Further funding for collaboration and development e.g. follow on funding, KTP, InnovateUK, Impact Acceleration Account, Knowledge Exchange Fund, Industrial Strategy Challenge fund, Industrial Fellowship, Industrial Studentship, Innovation Centre funding, Enterprise Fellowship… From whom do you need support? Business Development team, IP & Commercialisation team? KE Associates? Can you write them into the team?

Writing your Pathways to Impact Plan ahead! Think about your impact early when you are thinking about your research project, so you can ensure the impact outputs are well linked to your research. Identify the key stakeholders and audience for your outputs and find out if there is demand for what you are planning to do. If you already have a background in public engagement/ commercialisation/ knowledge exchange then you can include this as your track record (in PtoI).

Writing your Pathways to Impact Address each ‘bubble’ of the diagram Be specific Say what you are going to do, who your audience is. Don’t simply say you will go to a conference, which conference, who will go, when/where it is and why you have chosen this one. E.g. are there potential partners with whom you wish to engage? Who are they? If organising events or developing materials make sure they are targeted to the audience you’ve identified. Who will help you create impact? If you have partners, what will they be doing during the project? Can they test/verify outputs? Are they likely to seek co-funding with you? Might they licence your outputs? Real commitment from a partner strengthens your PtoI.

Writing your Pathways to Impact How will you pay for it? You can request funds for activities in your Pathways to Impact, as long as you’ve justified them. e.g. specialist staff, consultancy, marketing costs, public engagement costs, events, networking activities, people exchange etc. Demonstrate demand Show that there are audiences out there for your research and think about why they are interested and what their needs are. If you’ve already got a network of partners, this makes PtoI easy! Make it a two-way conversation Don’t plan to just tell people about your research. How can you help each other? Identify challenges, how can you help? Training? Policy guidance?

No impact?? Sometimes it’s hard to see any non-academic impact in the near future for some theoretical research. But someone must be interested! Think about engaging with special interest groups eg magazines, talks at societies, festivals, or through social media Think about engaging with more applied disciplines who may be able to take your research findings further

Measuring success Think about what success looks like for your impact plan e.g. X press mentions / articles in non academic publications X new industrial links/partners X new funding applications X Collaborative funding awards Research/policy/method adopted by X organisations

Tips Make sure you cover the full range of impacts shown in the diagram. Be specific about what you are going to do during the lifetime of the project to facilitate the pathways to impact. Have the impact activities clearly in the context of your research project Think 'outside the box' and be creative and innovative …But be realistic and don't over-egg the pudding. Avoid sentences using the phrase 'the usual...'. Don't waffle - only use as much of the two sides as you need. Have the reviewer criteria in front of you when writing your proposal. Remember you can request resources for pathways to impact activities as long as they are project-specific and justified.

Useful links https://www.ukri.org/innovation/excellence-with-impact/pathways-to-impact/ https://epsrc.ukri.org/funding/applicationprocess/preparing/impactguidance/ https://je-s.rcuk.ac.uk/handbook/index.htm#pages/JeSHelpdesk.htm https://esrc.ukri.org/research/impact-toolkit/ http://www.fasttrackimpact.com/ - provides templates, impact podcast and free online training on developing your impact

Happy to help! Lynne.mccorriston@glasgow.ac.uk David.nisbet@glasgow.ac.uk