What is impact? What is the difference between impact and public engagement? Impact Officers, R&IS

Summary Introduction to Impact Officer team and roles Definition of impact Examples of impact Public engagement (and impact) Why impact is important to your research Why impact is important to REF

Introductions Who are we? Arts: Catriona Firth Sciences: Larry Atwood, Katie Irgin Social Sciences: Claire Battye, Stephanie Seavers What do we do? Help academics to bring their research to a wider non-academic audience and maximise the positive impact of their research on society and the economy

What is Impact? Any ideas? Any examples from your research?

What is Impact? REF Definition: ‘an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.’

What is Impact? Research Councils UK definition: ‘the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy’. For example: Fostering global economic performance, and specifically the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom Increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy Enhancing quality of life, health and creative output

Examples of impact Public debate has been stimulated or informed by research Industry has invested in research and development A new product or service is in production or have been commercialised Professional standards or guidelines have been influenced by research Policy decisions have been influenced by research

Three steps to impact Underpinning research + Engagement with non-academics + Demonstrable effect on audience/partners = IMPACT!

Difference between impact & public engagement If any of the steps is missing, it is not impact Public engagement: Does not have to be based on a specific piece of research Does not have to be formally monitored or evaluated Does not have to demonstrate a measurable change in behaviours/beliefs/understanding Does not have to occur within a certain timeframe

Does Impact Matter? Scholarly impact: maintains the vitality of the discipline Impact beyond academe: can support improvements in the quality of economic, cultural, social, policy and service aspects of the population So impact DOES matter

Why does it matter? New skills: communications, collaborations, business Research profile raising: showcase research Career progression and research funding Early feedback – to help shape your research agenda and improve methodologies Vitae Researcher Development Framework

Why does the University care? Reputation Value to the region & country Money – QR funding (£34M per year) and grant applications

Pathways to Impact  Required for RCUK proposals  Good discipline to get into  What outcomes could be valuable beyond academe?  To whom could they be useful?  Crucially, what needs to be done to connect the two?  more research  develop collaborations, build relationships with end users  dissemination and follow-up  monitoring and gathering evidence  Plan impact activities into the research: workshops, visits, secondments, stakeholder events, etc

Coming up……. Impact and….. your research The Research Excellence Framework (REF)

What is the REF? The ‘Research Excellence Framework’ assesses the quality of academic research Determines ‘quality related’ funding for 6 years (pot of £2 billion for UK) Affects funding directly and indirectly through reputation/league table position

Impact and the REF Impact added as a requirement in REF2014 Weighted at 20% of a department’s submission (65% for outputs and 15% for environment) & likely to be worth even more next time round Assessed by case studies (80%) and an impact template (20%)

Impact Case Studies Not everyone needs to submit one Units of Assessment needed to submit a minimum of 2, then an extra 1 per 10 FTE researchers Case studies can be based around 1 researchers or a cluster of researchers

Scoring case studies Rated 1*- 4* Judged on their ‘reach’ and ‘significance’: Reach: the extent and/or diversity of the organisations, communities and/or individuals who have benefitted from the impact Significance: the degree to which the impact enriched, influenced, informed or changed the policies, practices, understanding and awareness of organisations, communities and/or individuals

Definition of ‘REFable’ impact Limited in time and location (research must have taken place between 1993 & 2013 at the submitting institution; impacts between 2008 & 2013) Underpinning research must be of minimum 2* quality Must be a strong link from the underpinning research to the demonstrable effects Strong evidence of real change is crucial

What makes a good case study? Let’s look at the examples…