Program
Final Impact Ignite 2025 Schedule
Impact Ignite Sessions
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Opening Panel: Designing for Impact
Sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Impact Ignite 2025 kicks off with a thought-provoking panel, Designing for Impact, bringing together four leading voices in the impact space:
- Dr. Simon Kerridge – Kerridge Research Consulting
- Melanie Knetsch – GW4 Alliance
- Mhairi Stewart – Natural History Museum, Berlin
- Dr. Julie Bayley – Northeastern University London
Together, they’ll share how they’ve embedded impact into their work, offering practical strategies, surprising insights and real lessons learned.
The panel will explore key questions, including:
- How do we design research for impact?
- What does it mean to anticipate and plan for change?
- How can research goals align with societal needs?
- What does embedding impact thinking across the research process look like in practice?
Guided by Dr. Tamika Heiden, this interactive discussion will ignite fresh ideas before opening the floor to your questions, experiences and perspectives.
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Chair: Mhairi Stewart
Head of Public Engagement and Impact, Natural History Museum, BerlinDrawing Together: Co-creating research impact through visual storytelling
What if research impact was co-created—not controlled—by researchers? Imagine a landscape where communities, stakeholders, and academics collaborate as equals, shaping meaningful, measurable, and inclusive outcomes together.
‘Drawing Together’ introduces generative scribing—a visual storytelling method that uses live illustration to dissolve traditional power dynamics in research interactions. Participants will learn the practical tools to co-create impact narratives by collectively visualising ideal futures and working backwards to shape the journey. They’ll also gain insights into how to determine quantitative and qualitative change as a result of these democratic interactions. No artistic ability required!
Generative scribing – coined by engagement researcher Kelvy Bird – uses art, visual narratives and collective drawing to shape interactions TOGETHER rather than by one power in the room. This allows for ALL expertise in the room to contribute to impact and dismantles the usual ‘research does impact to you’ power dynamic.
This enables diverse audiences to engage with research impact work and prioritises different kinds of knowledge, relationships, and expertise outside of the traditional academic framework. Since 2017, award-winning research communications agency Nifty Fox Creative has used this approach to visualise, measure, and democratise research impact for over 3000 researchers across 50+ universities worldwide and 78 public sector organisations.
Developing Impact Strategies: A Toolkit
Mariela Miranda, Erika Hajdu, Tatiana Abi Aad, Anna Smulders, Bianca Langhout
The Evaluating Societal Impact team of Erasmus University Rotterdam will introduce the Impact Strategy Development Toolkit – a structured collection of practical tools designed to support units and institutes in consciously and systematically embedding impact in their organization through the development, implementation and evaluation of impact strategies. Based on previous hands-on experiences and collaborations with several university faculties, the toolkit encourages incorporating elements of co-creation in the process of formulating impact strategies to ensure it is a participatory effort that fosters a sense of ownership. The toolkit guides you through this journey by referring you to useful resources along the way. These include reflective questions, a self-assessment of your current impact landscape, workshops to co-create your strategy, a bank of impact questions for interviews, and exemplary impact goals, action points and indicators to inspire your strategy and to tailor the process to your specific needs and environment. The end result is an impact strategy that is embedded in your university’s research, education, engagement and operational activities, setting the stage for staff and students to maximize their contributions to society. We are excited to share this toolkit with fellow individuals and teams committed to integrating impact in the core of their strategic planning and encourage the adaptation of community engagement practices during the process.
Building Capacity for Impact: Lessons from Evaluating the Role of Research Professional Staff
Eleanor MacPherson & Gordon Meiklejohn
Creating a positive research and impact culture, where researchers feel supported to engage with research users beyond the academy, is essential for achieving meaningful societal impact. At the University of Glasgow (UofG), professional service staff with expertise in impact are embedded within each of the four Colleges, supporting researchers to plan and deliver effective knowledge exchange and engagement activities. Funding is a critical enabler of this work. UKRI’s Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs) provide flexible block funding that allows researchers to respond to engagement and impact opportunities. At UofG, the IAAs act as an entry point for researchers to engage with impact professionals, potentially contributing to increased confidence and skills development. UofG manages six IAAs, delivered across the four Colleges and coordinated by a central research impact and engagement team.
Over the past three years, we have worked collaboratively to align and harmonise our approach to the IAAs we hold. With the aim of sharing and embedding good practice across the institution. To understand how this has influenced researchers’ ability to deliver impactful projects, we are conducting an organisational evaluation of our approach. Data is being collected via a survey, semi-structured interviews, and a participatory reflection workshop with researchers who have engaged with the funding and the research professional staff who have supported them.
While the evaluation is ongoing (with analysis completed by June), early insights suggest harmonisation is enhancing institutional support, enabling new practices to emerge, and providing a platform for institutional change. Highlights include an Early Career Researcher-led funding call, streamlined systems for interdisciplinary funding, improved cross-College collaboration, and stronger integration of EDI principles into guidance and application processes.
Embedding reflective practice and drawing on the expertise of research professional staff is contributing to a more coherent, inclusive, and adaptive institutional approach to supporting research engagement and impact.
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Chair: Dr. Jackie Reynolds
Research Impact Officer, University of Manchester
Putting People First: Lessons from an NHS Health Research Authority project to improve people centred research & impact
Dr Julie Bayley & Kate Greenwood
What does it mean to put people at the heart of research? How do not just engage, but engage meaningfully and collaboratively? In 2024, the Health Research Authority (HRA), initiated a project to explore this question, and determine key characteristics of people-centred research, and identify opportunities to instil system wide change for sustained impact.
Led by public representatives, with a steering group comprising patient, clinical, carer, academic and HRA representatives, this project identified barriers and facilitators to involvement. From these insights we:
- Identified four key conditions for inclusive research – Possibility, Trust, Purpose and Culture/Capacity
- Created nine Hallmarks of People Centred Research, emphasizing qualities like honesty, partnership, fairness, and simplicity.
- Produced nineteen actionable recommendations to make research more inclusive and meaningful
- Iteratively and collaboratively developed approaches to ensure the project was actively people-led
The HRA is already implementing these findings, developing tools like inclusion and diversity plan templates and enhancing participant information standards.
Whilst this project emerges from the clinical research space, its findings resonate across all areas of research and engagement. This presentation will delve into the project’s methodology, key findings, and practical steps researchers can take to align with people-centred principles. By embracing these recommendations, we can move towards a research environment where people feel valued, heard, and integral to the research process.
Accelerating Change Through Co-Design: A Collaborative Approach to Designing Tools and Supporting Implementation of Kidney Health Innovations
Selina Allu & Cynthia MacDonald
Implementing evidence-based health innovations is challenging, requiring structured support, stakeholder engagement, and adaptable strategies. The Can-SOLVE CKD Network recognized these barriers and co-developed Pathway to Implementation: A Six-Step Guide (https://cansolveckd.ca/resources/pathway-to-implementation/) to help kidney research teams bridge the gap between research and practice. This process involved researchers, patient partners, and decision-makers collaborating to ensure the guide’s relevance and usability across diverse healthcare settings.
Key lessons from this initiative include:
- The power of co-design: Engaging diverse stakeholders from the outset strengthens implementation tools, ensuring they are practical, relevant, and reflective of real-world challenges.
- Balancing structure with flexibility: While a stepwise framework provides essential guidance, teams need the ability to tailor strategies to their specific contexts.
- Implementation is a shared effort: Successful implementation requires contributions from the entire research team—not just the principal investigator. Patient partners, clinicians, administrators, and policymakers all play key roles.
- Bridging the research-to-practice gap: Practical tools help teams navigate implementation barriers, streamline decision-making, and accelerate change.
The need for a comprehensive and broadly applicable implementation guide emerged from the challenges research teams faced in moving evidence into practice. The Pathway to Implementation guide was co-developed to provide structured yet adaptable support, ensuring that implementation is a shared effort among members of the research team, including patient partners, clinicians, and administrators. Early feedback from teams using the guide highlights its value in clarifying implementation steps, fostering collaboration, and streamlining decision-making. Success stories demonstrate how research teams have applied the guide to overcome implementation barriers, refine their strategies, and build momentum for change in kidney health care.
By sharing this experience, we provide a model for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers seeking to accelerate implementation and maximize the impact of health innovations.
ENLIGHT: Towards an Impact-Driven University
Glória Nunes Rodrigues, Igor Campillo and Iñigo Puertas
As societal challenges grow in complexity, universities must evolve beyond traditional roles of knowledge production and transmission to become catalysts for transformation. ENLIGHT, a European University Alliance of ten research-intensive institutions, is pioneering a collaborative model that embraces this shift by embedding impact into the core of its mission and operational strategies. Its ambition is to promote a culture of impact by raising Impact Awareness, Literacy, and Readiness across its partner universities and beyond.
At the heart of this collaboration is the ENLIGHT Impact Task Force, composed of representatives from all partner universities. Together, they have developed a methodology and toolkit for impact assessment, piloted accross three action lines ranging from challenged-based education to regional collaboration models. These pilot case studies were co-created with students, academics, administrative staff, and societal stakeholders to define shared outcomes and design meaningful indicators.
To embed impact as a cultural norm, ENLIGHT has launched several support initiatives: a repository of good practices, a self-assessment toolkit for institutional impact maturity, and a comprehensive impact training programme, including an online repository of training materials, in-person training for early-career researchers and research support staff, positioned as agents of change within their universities. Initiatives such as the ENLIGHT Impact Awards and Impact Ambassadors further recognise and inspire excellence in research impact.
Collaboration is also outward-facing: ENLIGHT leads the impact group of the 65 European University Alliances (FOREU4ALL) and hosts open events to foster mutual learning. Challenges such as conceptual ambiguity and fragmented responsibility have been addressed through joint dialogue, trust-building, and sustained engagement.
ENLIGHT exemplifies how strategic partnerships can amplify impact by embedding a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility. By raising awareness, building literacy, and enhancing readiness, ENLIGHT is not only transforming internal practices but also helping shape a future where universities act as engines of societal progress.
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Chair: Fergus Mc Auliffe
Head of Research Engagement and Impact, Trinity College Dublin
Telling stories: research impact in the creative arts.
The journey from research to impact across all disciplines is seldom straightforward and, whether the aim is to develop new knowledge, ideas or policy, or to create social change, describing this in the creative arts can be especially complex. Where, often, research in the sciences deals in problem statements, this is less common in creative arts research practice—though there may be many problems to solve. More typically, research questions are asked, and issues—and their contexts—are explored.
In this session, we’ll look at some engaging impact stories from University of the Arts London, ranked 2nd in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 for art and design, and the highest ranked institute offering pre-degree, undergraduate and postgraduate courses in these areas.
One of the distinctive characteristics of creative arts research, while not unique to this area, is a particular understanding and application of practice research—where practical work and creative activities are central to the research process. The design of projects regularly involves researchers working closely with the prospective beneficiaries of their research from its earliest stages. This capacity of creative arts researchers to work in these kinds of partnerships to develop research questions as much as to deliver research projects regularly results in rich impact for a wide range of individuals, communities and organisations, locally, nationally and internationally, often across extensive timeframes.
Through the prism of some of UAL’s research work—in fashion, photography and museums and galleries—we’ll be investigating questions including: How can the richness of impact delivered by creative arts research be described? What pathways to impact are best suited to creating impact from research in creative arts disciplines? What kinds of evidence really work? And, crucially, what can other disciplines learn from the creative arts when it comes to research impact?
The Opening up participatory research programme: improving support for engaged pathways to impact
What does participatory research mean to you? This presentation shares learning from an ongoing programme of work at The University of Manchester which took that question as a starting point. It led to the development of a series of projects that seek to tackle barriers to engaged research more broadly and enhance support across the impact lifecycle – both at institutional and sector level (The Co-Pro Futures Inquiry).
Charting the journey so far, it reflects on key lessons from the initial mapping work and the projects developed in response to it, including test and fail approaches to engagement, efforts to create more flexible and responsive ethics and payment systems, and a project centred on participatory and community-led impact evaluation. Offering an honest appraisal of the challenges of trying to shift the dial in a system that isn’t quite ready for change, it also celebrates the joys of relational working and the unexpected rewards that come with simply letting go and seeing what unfolds.
Maximising societal impact through transdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge brokerage
Ghent University’s strategy for incentivising and supporting societal value creation encompasses three interlocking strands which all center around creating an impact literate culture: context, competences, and capacity. This presentation focusses on a crucial element within this strategy, i.e. the introduction of dedicated knowledge brokers as part of a limited number of strategic inter- and transdisciplinary research consortia (started in 2016).
These brokers are essential in realising the impact strategy of diverse groups by connecting researchers and their research to society by planning and overseeing the pathways to impact. We will share insights and key questions about:
- the process leading up to the development of such a programme
- the implementation of these very specific career trajectories
- the competencies needed to take up a knowledge broker role
- the integration of these roles into and their impact on the overarching impact culture of the university
- the creation of an evaluation framework for the consortia
- the main challenges of running such a programme and linking this up with other areas of research policy
- the impact of and response to the initiative (internally and externally) and its future
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Chair: Saskia Gent
Director, Insights for Impact
Demystifying the Research Excellence Framework (REF) While Strengthening Impact Culture: A Collaborative Approach to Training
Anna Svensson, Eleanor MacPherson & Laurence Estanove
Within UK universities, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) remains a dominant influence on how research impact is understood and practised. Yet for many academics, particularly those earlier in their careers or new to the UK Higher Education landscape, REF processes can seem opaque, anxiety-inducing, and disconnected from the broader purpose of undertaking impactful research. The challenge we therefore face is to support researchers in navigating REF impact expectations without reinforcing a narrow or instrumental culture of impact.
At our institution, a large Russell Group university, we have been working together to break down silos between the central REF planning team and the College of Social Sciences. We (research professional staff with expertise in REF, impact and knowledge exchange) collaborated to develop and deliver training that demystifies REF, clarifies current expectations, and is making the selection of potential impact case studies more transparent and less intimidating. Crucially, we emphasise that excellent impact work is happening across the university – much of which may not fall within REF parameters but is no less valuable or important.
Participant feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, citing increased clarity and confidence. A key learning point is the importance of providing consistent messages, including what we do and do not yet know, and rendering the REF process more visible. Another important component is how we present and communicate our approach to identifying potential REF impact case studies, recognising the many and varied benefits, beyond the REF, of understanding and capturing impact – ensuring the process feels fair and comprehensive enough, and that all researchers, regardless of REF eligibility, feel recognised and supported in their efforts to make a difference.
Reframing REF training as an opportunity for culture-building, rather than compliance, can enhance institutional preparedness while fostering inclusive and confident engagement with impact.
Making the Most of PEWR Data for REF and Impact
Public Engagement with Research (PEWR) serves as a vital conduit between researchers and society, allowing external insights to shape research questions and approaches, ensuring relevance, and supporting the application of research in real-world contexts. Effective PEWR fosters curiosity and learning, provokes critical thinking, encourages dialogue, explores risk, and builds participation and involvement. At its best—when activities are tailored and project-specific—PEWR can influence behaviour, develop skills, and lead to measurable research impact.
In preparation for REF2029, we are examining the value of the data held within our institutional PEWR infrastructure to support Units of Assessment (UoAs). We distinguish between institutional-level and school-level data, with the latter aligning most closely with UoA structures. At the institutional level, we are exploring broader metrics and narratives. At the school level, we are trialling the utility of metrics such as: number of PE activities per staff member, staff involvement in centrally led initiatives, internal funding recipients, leadership or ambassadorial roles, award winners, and staff who have successfully cited PEWR in promotion applications.
We are testing the usefulness of these indicators with UoA leads based on 2023-24 data, for inclusion in People, Culture and Environment statements. If this pilot proves beneficial, we plan to continue with the dataset report going forward, enabling longitudinal narratives supported by data.
Much of this work was enabled by earlier strategic efforts. In 2016, we integrated PEWR tracking into Symplectic and successfully incorporated PE and outreach into academic promotion criteria—an important change, given how rarely promotion frameworks are reviewed.
Tailored public engagement enhances research relevance and impact. When supported by institutional infrastructure, integrated into academic systems like Symplectic and promotion criteria, and underpinned by accessible data, PEWR becomes a powerful driver of cultural change and a valuable asset for REF2029.
How to write about impact for REF – language insights from comparing high- and low-scoring REF2014 impact case studies
It is often assumed that the way in which impact case studies are written for assessment purposes can influence the outcome of such assessments. While my research shows that this is an over-generalisation, there are certain aspects of language choice that distinguish successful case studies.
In a comparison between high- and low-scoring impact case studies from REF 2014, I identified four ways in which impact case studies were made more persuasive: through words and phrases emphasising Credibility, Added Value, Richness, and Specificity. This presentation will introduce you to ways in which these categories were expressed in the first set of REF impact case studies, ready for you to consider how to apply them in future exercises. All of these categories appear across both high- and low-scoring case studies, but with subtle differences. Moreover, not all of the wordings through which these categories are represented are freely available to use in all contexts, which also holds important lessons for the question to what extent persuasive language may have played a role in the assessment process.
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Chair: Kate Shook
Research Impact Officer, Research Impact Academy
Artificial intelligence and the future of research impact: what are we learning and how to be strategic
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a transformative force in the research impact landscape. Beyond its technical capabilities, AI introduces new opportunities and questions for how knowledge is mobilised, evaluated, and translated into societal benefit. This abstract explores the emerging role of AI in shaping future impact practices, with particular attention to its potential to enhance scalability, responsiveness, and accessibility in impact generation.
Drawing on recent developments in machine learning and large language models (LLMs), AI is being piloted across various stages of the research impact lifecycle starting from stakeholder mapping and engagement design to the automated generation of policy-relevant outputs. Use of AI early in the research life cycle bears the potential of AI tools supporting researchers and professional staff in accelerating evidence synthesis, tailoring communication for diverse audiences, and simulating intervention scenarios with greater precision.
However, the integration of AI into impact work also introduces critical challenges, including risks of bias, accountability gaps, and a potential narrowing of what is recognised as impactful. There are also conversations currently around the use of AI in impact landscape and ethical practices surrounding that. As research institutions and funders begin to grapple with these tensions, strategic reflection on how AI may reshape both the practice and politics of impact in the coming decade is timely and mandatory.
By situating AI within the wider context of research impact welcomes debates about research ethics, execusion and evaluation. This abstract will provoke questions about the kind of impact future systems are designed to value and who benefits. The intention is not to offer definitive answers, but to surface key insights and considerations for impact professionals navigating this fast-evolving space.
COMPASS in Action: A new tool for Collaborative Objective Mapping and Proactive Impact Planning
Jennifer Lockett & Dawn Ashby
A new technical platform for identifying outcomes and impacts from NIHR funded research: Using Data Science-based solutions to support Research Impact Assessment
Adam Lockwood & Amanda Ribeiro
The National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. NIHR is the nation’s largest funder of health and care research, managing services through a £1.3B a year contract that enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research.
There is ever increasing importance for NIHR to be able to effectively demonstrate and communicate the difference the research it funds and supports makes to society and the economy. With this aim, NIHR’s Centre for Business Intelligence is exploring how Data Science-based solutions can benefit the organisation, lead to efficiency savings and enable NIHR to effectively explore, demonstrate and communicate its impact. Over the last six months, a small group of NIHR colleagues with special interests in data, impact and digital services have assembled to develop requirements and test the feasibility of developing a technical solution to aid processes for sifting and identifying outcomes and impact data from various data sources.
Currently to identify outcome, output and impact indicators from NIHR research, our team of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Managers use manual processes to sift through key data sources including information from our Management Information System and third-party tools. The solution we are looking to put in place would include the development of a model that ingests these materials and highlights/summarises key impacts from NIHR funded research, streamlining existing processes by reducing manual and repetitive tasks to enable better prioritisation of Research Impact Assessment and case study development and associated impact reporting. This tool will be developed in alignment with NIHR’s position on the responsible use of metrics, ensuring that data is interpreted contextually and used to support meaningful insights rather than as standalone indicators.
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Chair: Kate Trant
How coaching techniques can transform the way you support researchers
Requirements to develop societal impact from research have become embedded in academic life. HEIs look for strategies to help develop skills and approaches to impact development amongst their researchers and this often includes appointing professional services staff to support research in this way. The resources available to build staff capacity and capability to deliver impact varies widely across the sector. This includes challenges to how to resource train and develop professional service staff. Recruitment to these roles is also diversifying and staff may come from outside the sector or from PhD studies with differing skill sets.
Professional service managers and staff are increasingly aware of the benefits that a coachinginformed approach to impact support can bring. These include being able to: • support significantly diverse types of impact, • work with researchers across different disciplines who have varied levels of impact related experience • align impact support to the values, interests and aptitudes of researchers • contribute to equality diversity and inclusion ambitions by using more diverse and sustained methods of support.
In this session we will explore methods and techniques for professional services staff to engage researchers using a coaching-informed approach. This is designed to move away from the impact staff needing to know all the answers and instead to equip them to confidently use coaching approaches, frameworks, skills and techniques to explore researcher-led solutions and build confidence in navigating engagement.
It will consider impact staff roles and when taking a coaching informed approach is appropriate, will address the issue of using empathetic engagement, identify the appropoorate skills and will look at how to prepare for and structure coaching informed support sessions giving some key tips that can transform how you engage with researchers.
The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility in Open Knowledge Network (IDEA Network) and the Wiki projects: the journey so far
Dr Kirsty Ross, Abd Alsattar Ardati & Sara Thomas
The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility in Open Knowledge Network (IDEA Network) was founded on 1 April 2021 during the COVID pandemic. Since then, it has influenced teaching, research, public engagement with research, and knowledge exchange practice, as well as increasing capacity for open knowledge at the University of St Andrews. There have been successes and failures as the IDEA Network grew, learning via practice, and evolving so that futures iterations were more likely to succeed. By focusing on open knowledge platforms, and the Wikimedia projects in particular, we have had a measurable influence on the world’s largest encyclopaedia and her sister projects. Join us as we share those successes and failures; we’d love for you and your researchers to join us on this journey!
Creating Visiting Professors of Research Impact to strengthen engagement and impact for Leeds University Business School
Alistair Quaile, Magda Osman, Vanna Aldin, Carrie Heitmeyer & David Loseby
Since 2022, Leeds University Business School (LUBS) has appointed seven Visiting Professors of Research Impact (VPRIs) over two cohorts. These fractional (0.15 FTE) posts are central to the School’s Impact Strategy, enabling leaders from business, policy and the public sector to champion our impact agenda, act as ambassadors of LUBS research in their professional communities, and support researchers in generating societal impact.
VPRIs are not selected solely on their academic track record but also their ability to bridge the gap between research and practice. Their unique perspectives and networks enable them to co-develop recommendations with academic colleagues, ensuring that research findings directly provide policymakers with actionable insights.
The initiative aligns with recent calls to embed pracademia in business schools to better navigate the socio-technical challenges of delivering impact (Hughes et al., 2024). By integrating pracademic expertise within research structures, LUBS is actively addressing systemic barriers to impact, including misaligned metrics, rigid academic cultures, and a lack of recognition for practice-based knowledge exchange. VPRIs are uniquely positioned to translate research into actionable insights and mobilise knowledge across stakeholder groups.
Since joining, they have:
- Facilitated cross-sector engagement, expanding networks and enabling collaboration with policy makers and organisations, such as professional bodies, that deliver and shape policy.
- Supported academics in developing impact case studies, from conception to delivery, including contributions to cases for the upcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise.
- Strengthened research collaborations, leading to publications in high-impact journals.
- Mentored early career researchers, organising secondments in Government departments.
This session will reflect on successes and challenges from embedding VPRIs at LUBS, offering insights into the cultural and structural shifts needed to fully leverage pracademic expertise to drive research impact. This includes overcoming risks such as cultural resistance to pracademics, inadequate performance indicators for pracademic contributions, and lack of recognition of non-traditional scholarship metrics.
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Chair: Kate Shook
Research Impact Officer, Research Impact Academy
We are all experts: Engaging people with lived experience of dementia in academic conferences
Inbal Itzhak, Carrie McAiney, Nathalie Bélanger, Ellen Snowball, Emma Lanza, Juanita-Dawne Bacsu & Jennifer Bethell
Imagine you are a care partner for a family member living with dementia. You are standing on a stage facing 250 people at the opening session of a national dementia research conference. You are prepared – but nervous. You share your personal experiences and invite the researchers to collaborate with the advisory group you are a part of. The advisory group is comprised entirely of people with lived experience of dementia.
Now, imagine you are a research student at the same conference. You are sitting in the audience at a session on neuroimaging and dementia research. When it is time for questions from the audience, the session moderator invites a person with lived experience of dementia to ask the first question. A member of the lived experience advisory group, a woman living with Mild Cognitive Impairment, thanks the speakers for their work and asks a question. At lunch, you sit next to her and other people with lived experience, as well as researchers. The conversation flows from talking about dementia and science to life in general. You find yourself enjoying the connections made and learning from the stories shared by the lived experience advisors.
These scenes describe real experiences of people with lived experience of dementia and researchers at the annual meetings of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging. Over four years, we have developed an approach for authentic engagement of people with lived experience of dementia at our conferences.
In this talk, we will share the goals and intentions behind this approach. We will describe in detail a set of best practices we applied to facilitate meaningful engagement that can be adapted to other conferences. We will discuss the impact of this approach on the research ecosystem and the value of it for people with various perspectives and roles.
“Dear future impact officer…” – lessons learnt about impact, professional development & tackling imposter syndrome in changing times
Charlotte Pearce & Dr Julie Bayley
If you had told me three years ago that I would be professionally immersed in the world of impact, I (like many other people) would’ve simply said “what’s that?!” The past 18 months particularly have seen me embark on a rapid journey of learning during a time of immense institutional and sector change, with a role beginning in a supervised team of five, to now being the most senior of a team of two. As I’ve progressed from learning the basics of research impact to co-ordinating the submission of our institutions REF Impact Case Studies, I’ve experienced highs, lows and an ever-present sense of imposter syndrome.
This talk will delve into my journey in more detail, touching on the lessons learnt and challenges navigated. I will discuss my key insights such as building support networks, connecting to other institutions to cultivate a research environment, and fostering impact literacy within resource constraints and limited knowledge. I will also discuss building new professional foundations during a period of major institutional and sector change, including how to handle relationships with academics, with a particular lens on the dynamic shift from previous student to staff.
The key aim of my talk is to provide those who are new to the world of impact, and the administration associated with assessment processes, with insights to dispel their feelings of nervousness or imposter syndrome. The changing climate of Higher Education is difficult to navigate sometimes, and these difficulties can present challenges for those who are new to its many nuances. Nonetheless, it is important to lean into these challenges and remind yourself that there is always someone who can relate and that everyone must start somewhere.
Monitoring and evaluating policy engagement activities: The case of OUCRU Infectious Diseases Research and Policy Discussion Forum
Tran Ngo, Thi Hong Nguyen, Katrina Lawson, Van Tan Le, Thi Hoa Ngo, H Rogier van Doorn & Guy Thwaites
Engagement between researchers and policy stakeholders is integral to translating health research results to wider impact. In Vietnam, many researchers and policy stakeholders in the health environment acknowledge the need for regular communication through both formal and informal approaches. In addition to building personal networks, formal platforms that promote reciprocal exchange of knowledge, experience and connections are necessary to ensure that engagement between the research side and the policy side is systemic and sustainable.
At the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), in 2022, we have created a discussion forum, namely the OUCRU Infectious Diseases Research and Policy Discussion Forum (OUCRU IDDF), through which our researchers and key stakeholders in the areas of infectious disease policy in Viet Nam can share priorities and initiatives, seek advice, and work together in collaborative projects. As the IDDF is an on-going initiative with a diverse group of senior stakeholders on a wide range of topics, maintaining participation, monitoring engagement, and evaluating the impact of its activities play a key role in ensuring the sustainability and effectiveness of the Forum. Such tasks can be challenging due to the continuous nature of the effort, different levels of participation between members over time, and the inherent complexity of policy engagement efforts and results.
This case study details the outcome measures employed for the IDDF, including an integrated output database to track all relevant activities, and an outcome journal using progress markers to evaluate their progress and impact. It serves as an example on how to organise a policy discussion forum in the health environment, and how to assess the outcomes of such a forum in particular and policy engagement initiatives in general.
Seeing the Bigger Picture: Research Impact Through a Systemic Lens
This presentation explores the strategies employed by the University of Oulu to enhance impact awareness and capabilities among researchers. By integrating systems thinking, researchers can boost their creativity and problem-solving abilities, leading to more significant impacts. Training young researchers in systems thinking equips them to address complex problems and transcend disciplinary boundaries. The synergy between systems thinking and impact understanding cultivates more proficient researchers, better prepared for large-scale research proposals and initiatives. Furthermore, systems thinking enables researchers to recognize their potential in addressing global crises. This approach could become an essential component of every researcher’s toolkit in the future.
Planning, reporting and evaluating impact: a funders perspective
EIT Food has spent the last year examining our portfolio of more than 400 funded activities, involving HEIs, research institutes, commercial organisations and startups, to identify economic, social and environmental outcome and impact-related evidence that can be linked to those activities. We will illustrate our findings to date and the tools we used for benchmarking particular parts of our impact framework and social return on investment assessments.
Looking forward, we have improved our funding guidelines and programme management to better track outcomes and to mitigate the age old problem of comparing projects that are so different that its like looking at an apple and a toy car. We will discuss the challenges identified and the methods used to demonstrate the value of our activities at an organisational level.
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Chair: Dr Ged Hall
Researcher Development and Culture Team Leader, University of Leeds
Social Science Ventures: Making Social Science Commercialisation Work
Dr Sanne Elbrink & Professor Pablo Muñoz
Social science research has the power to generate knowledge that can address societal challenges. However, too often, this research remains confined within academia, resulting in valuable insights being published in papers but not fully realising their potential to drive change beyond academia. To bridge this gap, the Durham Social Science Enterprise Lab (SSEL) has developed an innovative approach by embedding impact-driven commercialisation early and integrally in the research process. Our approach brings together small interdisciplinary teams of researchers and practitioners to co-produce academic and practical outputs, papers and tangible, scalable solutions for complex societal problems. This approach enables universities to increase the impact of social science research while also creating new revenue streams.
Unlike well-established commercialisation pathways in STEM disciplines, social science research struggles to define clear routes for scaling impact. Our approach embeds business development into research workflows, preventing common mismatches between problem and solution or product and market fit. Our impact framework starts with powering inception, defining the multidisciplinary and multifaceted challenge. Mutually meaningful spaces bring researchers and practitioners together by developing a shared passion, understanding, and knowledge base. Through prospective inquiry, the team utilises the generative power of social science research to imagine the future and develop practical solutions. Applying translational science principles turns these solutions into tangible, scalable interventions. To ensure their sustainability beyond short-term funding, we leverage social ventures or other business models, with potential reinvestment into academia or further initiatives.
We will share insights from five projects, illustrating how our approach advances meaningful collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Additionally, we will introduce our partnership programme, designed to help other universities and investors implement this approach. Our key lessons emphasise the importance of co-producing research. It recognises the need for institutional support and integrates commercialisation early into the research process to drive sustainable, high-impact outcomes.
Co-creating and monitoring the pathway to impact: An end-to-end approach from research project design to closure.
Angela Baker & Paanujan Karunaharan
In EU funded projects convincing evaluators of the potential impact of a research project has become more and more critical to get funding. In Academic-led collaborations designing a project around the expected benefits (outcomes) for the end users of the innovations as well as the wider societal, environmental and economic impacts is most often not intuitive.
Our role as a dedicated EU project support service for a leading French Research Institute (INRAE) is to help scientists build a project and partnership both with and for these end-users to ensure that the innovations proposed are fit-for-purpose and therefore impactful.
To do so we developed in 2022 an in-house methodology based on design-thinking principles delivered using collective intelligence facilitation and with some success.
Although this methodology enables the proposals to score well in the impact criteria, once the project (if funded) is underway the partnership too often gets “lost in implementation” and impact monitoring and actions usually become an afterthought only addressed when requested by the funder as part of project reporting.
At INRAE Transfert we have started developing and piloting a visual and methodological approach to not only co-designing the pathway to impact (as part of the pre-award requirements) but also to monitoring progress along the pathway throughout the project, also facilitating exploitation planning for beyond the project (fulfilling post award requirements).
A key criteria has been to make this pathway to impact tool (IMPACT’IT) collaborative (to enable co-design), simple (by integrating a narrative) and visual (to create a common understanding and vision).
Our presentation will outline:
- the methodological steps required to build and monitor the pathway and the choice of visual tool;
- how the funder requirements both pre and post award have been integrated into the approach;
- the benefits perceived by the team piloting IMPACT’IT.
From framework to function: Using the Research Institutes Narratives Guide (RING) to evidence and communicate research unit impact
Giovanna Lima, Anabel Sánchez-Plaza & Fernando Vannier Borges
Research units are under growing pressure to evidence their value in an evolving research assessment landscape that increasingly emphasizes responsibility, context, and qualitative insight. However, despite the central role research institutes play in enabling impactful work and the importance of institutional commitment to impact, few tools exist to help them systematically capture, assess, and communicate their contributions. Most frameworks focus on individual researchers or projects, leaving a gap at the institutional level.
This talk will introduce and discuss the Research Institutes Narratives Guide (RING), a practical tool developed to support research performing organisations in constructing evidence-based, audience-specific narratives of their impact. Inspired by the Researcher Impact Framework (RIF), and drawing from international best practices, the RING supports institutes in aligning their activities, outcomes, beneficiaries, and evidence across five impact areas: knowledge generation, development of individuals and collaborations, support for the research community, societal contributions, and institutional resilience. RING builds on the values of responsible research assessment and provides a structured approach to narrating institutional impact while remaining discipline- and geography-agnostic.
We will briefly introduce how the RING can support retrospective evaluation and forward-looking strategic planning, and how it could help to respond to challenges in research assessment of units such as variability in criteria, the tension between qualitative and quantitative data, how to acknowledge and value the diverse roles and competencies of individuals and teamwork.
Participants will get insights on challenges and opportunities for implementing the RING in diverse contexts, reflect on its potential to strengthen capacity for impact reporting, and contribute ideas to its ongoing development (adequacy of building blocks, key elements to consider, how to account for failure). This session is ideal for research (impact) managers, practitioners, and evaluators seeking grounded, collaborative insights into making the invisible visible in institutional impact.
Exploring Impact Culture in a Research Centre
Kirsty High & Colin MacKechnie
UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) is an independent research institution that is scientifically focused on advancing our understanding of the environment, with expertise spanning freshwater, land and air. Whilst it is independent, is receives some financial support directly from NERC and is tasked with delivering some of its key capabilities in monitoring, modelling and data science. UKCEH collaborates extensively with HEIs and has a close relationship, through co-funded projects and contract research, with influential Government Departments, notably Defra, as well as diverse organisations including the Environment Agency, Welsh Government and Natural England.
The increasing interest in impact culture nationally has given us reason to consider the Impact identity of UKCEH. For an institution that works so closely with research users, policy makers and HEIs, the understanding of impact can be surprisingly variable. While most researchers are routinely delivering impact as part of their research activities, communication of impact can be inconsistent, and detailed evaluation of impact within a research programme is not routine. The highly collaborative nature of UKCEH also means that it is difficult to disentangle the exact impact that stems from our research, leaving many researchers apparently reluctant to claim ownership of impact.
We set out to evaluate the impact and engagement culture of UKCEH using the Knowledge Exchange concordat as a framework against an adapted version of the NCCPEs EDGE analysis. We looked at factors such as organisational policies, the impact knowledge of both scientists and professional services staff, and institutional recognition of impact. The aim was to determine how impact culture could be better developed at an institutional level, and indeed, if this was even necessary. In this short discussion, we will reflect on our findings from this analysis, and explore both the motivations for a better impact culture and ways to drive this.
Giving voice to the voices: Co-creating a framework for positive research culture impact
Lisa Backwell, Charmaine Lim & Zain Ul Abidin
Pockets of supportive leadership have been shown to impact positively on research culture (Guccione 2022). However, individual and unconnected efforts are insufficient to drive organisation-level impact. We aim to identify and mainstream key elements of collegial leadership in creating positive research communities to address the gap in our understanding of how collegial leadership manifests in practice and maximise positive research culture change.
The InFrame project, a Wellcome Trust collaboration between the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St Andrews, aims to catalyse a transformative shift in research culture through cultivating effective collegial leadership.
A central objective of the InFrame project is to broaden understanding of research leadership through providing resources and support for new and emerging leaders to investigate their practice. To achieve this, the project has developed and is currently piloting an accessible Culture Catalyst Fund (CCF), which will be used to develop an emerging co-created framework for collegial leadership.
We will present the key themes that surfaced during the CCF. Drawing upon original empirical data collected from 53 project applications across the three participating Universities, the analysis will employ a combination of grounded theory (Ackerly and True, 2020), thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2023), culturally responsive theory-driven evaluation (Meyer et al, 2021) and a social constructivist approach (Charmaz and Thornberg, 2021). This methodological approach prioritises a co-created framework that authentically reflects the perspectives and priorities of our research communities.
By empowering our research communities to articulate their understanding of effective leadership practices and integrating their lived experiences into development and reward systems, the InFrame project will generate a wealth of evidence-based initiatives to enhance research cultures. These initiatives have the potential to be readily adapted and implemented across various job families and career stages within higher education institutions throughout the UK, fostering a more supportive and rewarding research environment.
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How to avoid the flare effect
Only communicating about a research project when the end is in sight and there are results, is a missed opportunity. It’s like lighting a flare that goes up, looks spectacular, but then extinguishes and is gone. By lighting sparklers from the start of the project, you take the audience along on your research journey. You engage them and create momentum for your flare. So making impact really starts from the first idea for your research.
This poster presentation gives you ideas on what to communicate in every phase of your research project. Come and see which topics and angles are interesting!
One step forward, two steps back – From ‘Teaching only’ to an Emerging Research Culture: Embedding Impact at a post-1992 institution in less than 5 years.
Following a pivotal decision in 2019 to enter the “best we could” submission for REF2021, this poster explores the challenges and progress along London Metropolitan University’s journey from a Teaching focussed institution to an HEI with a growing research culture, through the lens of embedding impact.
Echoing the London Met vision that “Our research will drive real impact and change in London and beyond,” is the understanding that impact is what London Met does, whether it is through our community interactions, our students and graduates, or our research. This journey to embedding impact could easily be summarised by polar opposites, the highs, the lows; the joy, the despair; the mountains and valleys; but for the most part it is on the slopes between these extremes that progress is being made. Benefitting from both materials inspired by impact professionals across the UK, and innovative techniques designed specifically for London Met, our researchers have begun to develop their understanding of what impact is and how to do it, and are beginning to embed it into their research practice. Whether it is an introduction to impact seminar to hammer home (again) what impact is and what is not impact or supported small group ‘conversations’ that allow researchers to explore and encourage each other to deliver the impact of their research; impact development at London Met is being supported by investment in tracking software and by an Impact Manager, but it remains a work in progress.
From recruitment to the University’s first Impact-focussed post and the drama of a retrospective trawl for evidence for an ultimately successful Impact element in REF2021, through to the continuing development of impact support and education, embedding impact into a nascent research culture is a one-step forward, two steps back challenge.
Re-shaping Research: Driving Collaboration, Innovation, and Impact in Global Organisations
Research in International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) is key to solving global problems and making positive change. Brooke: Action for Working Horses and Donkeys has created its first research strategy, focused on conducting ethical, impactful research with a global reach. Our goal is to build a positive research culture based on collaboration across the organisation, believing that this will ensure Brooke’s research makes a significant contribution to its mission. Using a co-production approach is crucial for creating real impact and monitoring its progress. By using inclusive and participatory methods, INGOs ensure that those most affected by global issues, and those that have the capacity to help, have a voice in the research. This means working together with different groups—such as communities, policymakers, researchers and practitioners —to produce and track meaningful outcomes. In this session, we will share ideas for improving collaborative working within research within diverse organisations, how Brooke adjust communications to reach different audiences making sure research findings are shared in a way that enables their use, and how we are tackling the challenges of monitoring research impact.
Scaffolding educational activities to address a knowledge gap: An example from brain health literacy
Nathalie Bélanger, Inbal Itzhak, Sylvie Belleville, Nicole Anderson, Edeltraut Kroger, Walter Wittich, George Philip & CCNA CAN-THUMBS UP Study Group
Baby-boomers are aging, and with a large aging population comes an increasing number of new dementia diagnoses. There is strong evidence that prevention strategies focusing on lifestyle changes can reduce risk of dementia and potentially delay its onset (Livingston et al., 2020, 2024). However, for the public to implement such changes, we need to address large knowledge gaps. To address these, the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) developed an online educational program called Brain Health Pro.
The program covers seven domains: vision and hearing, social and psychological health, vascular health, nutrition, physical activity, cognitive engagement, and sleep. Individuals learn to adapt their lifestyle or seek solutions that could help prevent or delay dementia. This comprehensive online program, Brain Health Pro, is currently being validated for a future release in Canada.
While the program is being validated and tested, we wanted to start building an awareness of it by sharing the gist of the knowledge it contains. To this end, we distilled the program’s 181 chapters into the crucial knowledge and action points for the seven domains. The rationale of developing this tool was to expose the target audience to the content of the program before the program is released, to help promote the program with partners, and to support enrolment for the testing phase. By the time the program is launched we hope people will have heard about the lifestyle areas and the actions they might take to prevent/delay dementia. Later, with the full program, people will be able to learn more about brain health.
The infographic has so far been shared with health and social services stakeholders as well as public and advocacy groups like the Canadian Alzheimer societies. In the poster we will share the dissemination approach and qualitative responses to this product.
A qualitative investigation examining the experiences of researchers and policy experts in personal injury research funding partnerships
Arshpreet Sidhu, Gabriel Moore, Lisa N. Sharwood, David Heslop andRebecca Ivers
Background: Despite growing recognition of the value of evidence-informed policymaking, a persistent gap remains between health research findings and their practical application to policy and practice. Numerous studies have identified barriers to integrating research evidence into decision making processes, including limited engagement between researchers and policymakers and their respective institutions, and a lack of timely, policy relevant research outputs. To foster effective partnerships that support evidence-informed decision-making, targeted tools and strategies are essential. This study investigates the experiences, perceptions, and roles of researchers and policy experts within the context of personal injury research. It aims to identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration and improve the uptake of research evidence in policy development.
Methods: This qualitative study, conducted between March and November 2022, gathered data through interviews and focus groups. Thirteen senior policy experts from regulatory and insurance bodies across Australia participated in interviews, while four focus groups engaged fourteen researchers specialising in personal injury research. Data were analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s methodology, with initial coding informed by Cassell and Symon’s framework.
Results: Eight key themes emerged, highlighting the complexities of research – policy exchange and the barriers to effective knowledge translation. Findings emphasise the importance of sustained collaboration, clear communication, and structured engagement forums. While traditional dissemination methods remain common, alternative formats such as targeted reports and presentations were valued. Defining roles within project teams and fostering cross – sector collaboration are crucial for the timely and relevant use of evidence in policy-making.
Conclusion: This study identifies actionable strategies to strengthen the relationship between research funders and academic researchers, that could enhance the translation of research into policy and practice. Key recommendations include providing clearer guidance on data interpretation, fostering deeper collaboration, leveraging expertise through targeted project teams, and ensuring alignment with funders’ strategic objectives. The findings highlight the importance of sustained engagement, adequate resourcing, and tailored training to support evidence-informed decision-making.
Grassroot movements in the times of complex solutions, an attempt to explore and design new frameworks to support research impact in different themes using a frugal approach, “Health Promotion” as a case study in Iraq – Kirkuk.
Mohammed Abbas, Manu Prakash
Abstract:
This presentation offers a reflective case study on grassroots-level public engagement, illustrating how informal, human-centered interaction can influence research to more impact by innovating new frameworks from traditional ideas and approaches. Grounded in frugal innovation and lived experience, the project demonstrates direct, consistent outreach to bridge the gap between research and society -particularly in resource-limited contexts. This publication will serve the researchers to generate tangible research impact.Inspired by Prof. Manu Prakash of Stanford University, co-founder of Foldscope, this initiative began from scratch as a spontaneous 21-day “street science” personal challenge in Iraq, reaching over 1,000 children through hands-on experiments conducted in public spaces to promote health and science. Using simple tools such as the Foldscope paper microscope, the initiative evolved into a long-term science and health advocacy initiative, with over documented 250 consecutive days of activity, to a potential public engagement model.
This consistent presence fostered trust, curiosity, and new perceptions of science among children who had never previously experienced it in practice. For example, a story of two siblings invited me to visit their school to do a biology experiment there because they want to help me to show to their friends live microorganisms. So that is exactly where tools like Foldscope enable and give that experience. This approach proposes a “hyper-local engagement” framework as a complementary policy concept for certain types of research seeking direct societal benefit. Rather than intensity, the focus here is on continuity.
Three practical applications emerged from this approach:- Health Persona: Leveraging trend-based community identities to promote healthy habits.
- Public Health ID: Recognizing both professionals and citizen contributors in everyday engagement.
- Health Nodes: Establishing Community-based focal points where public health messages are spread regularly by trusted locals.
This model of advocacy draws from communication, social sciences, and on-the-ground action to establish a grassroots movement. It offers a replicable, low-cost pathway to reimagine how research connects to people’s lives. In times when education and health inequalities persist, traditional policy pathways often fail to engage communities meaningfully and practically, so one solution to tackle with grassroots-level engagement. We are ambitious that this work can inspire to design a blueprint of how small efforts and resourcefulness can lead to innovative participatory formats.
Keywords:
Frugal innovation, science communication, grassroots engagement, research impact, public health, hyper-local engagement. - Health Persona: Leveraging trend-based community identities to promote healthy habits.
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Curious about how your colleagues got into the wonderful world of research impact? Now is your chance to find out.
In this live recording for the Research Adjacent podcast, you’ll hear the career stories of impact practitioners like you. Host Sarah McLusky will invite them to share exactly how and why they got into this work, as well as the highs and lows they’ve experienced along the way. You’re guaranteed insights, inspiration, and advice for your own career journey.
Interviewees:
- Mr Sean McCaul, Faculty Impact Officer, Ulster University
- Kirsty High, Research Impact Manager, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
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Closing Panel: The Future of Impact
Sponsored by Nifty Fox Creative
The closing panel invites us to look beyond the present to imagine the evolving landscape of research impact. Bringing together leaders from publishing, technology, evaluation, and research funding, this session will explore how emerging technologies, sectoral change, and growing attention to ethics, accessibility, and societal value are shaping the next chapter of impact.
Panel Speakers: