Research impact: a UK perspective

The international research impact agenda is influenced by a number of diverse stakeholders, from charities and policy makers to governments and the United Nations. So how can we, as research managers, put structures in place to support the strategic development of impact towards this agenda?

Research impact is not a new concept, particularly in the UK where, from as early as the 1980s, universities have been held to account by the government for the public funding they receive. The UK was one of the first countries to take the approach of assessing and measuring the impact of the research taking place at our universities through the Research Excellence Framework (REF). The first REF exercise was carried out in 2014, replacing previous research assessment exercises, by the four UK higher education funding bodies.

The funding bodies’ shared policy aim for research assessment is to secure the continuation of a world-class, dynamic, and responsive research base and provide evidence of the benefits of public investment in research. The REF is also a mechanism by which this public investment, of approximately £1.6 billion per year, is selectively allocated to universities. Impact assessment made up 20% of the last REF (2014) and will make up 25% of the next REF (2021). Therefore, it has been a magnet for resources, concern, and even panic for UK universities since 2009.

Research impact is about the contribution – or benefit – that excellent research makes to knowledge, culture, health and care, and quality of life. It’s a good thing, a positive thing! So why does it cause worry or alarm? Is that really what we, as research managers, want?

I have come across academics who really understand the potential impact of their work and actively work towards achieving it. They enjoy impact activities as they can make use of their research expertise to change something about the world.

However, I have also encountered academics who don’t see the value of having an impact on the outside world through their research. They see impact activities as an additional burden on top of their many other commitments.

Finally, there are the third set of academics, the early career researchers. This group are super enthusiastic, very hard working and have been told by a well-meaning senior colleague or mentor that they need a REF impact case study in order to advance their careers and show their impact. My conversations with this third group usually involve reassuring them that they are doing all the right things, providing strategic advice on where they should go next with their research projects, and explaining that the REF definition of impact is a bit narrower than what impact really means. The REF excludes academic impact, for example, the creation of new knowledge or research questions from its definition of impact. Institutions will typically submit impact case studies on research and impact with a long history – up to 20 years of research and 6 years of impact. These conversations then move early career researchers from my third group of academics to one of the first two groups.

In an ideal world, I’d like all the academics I encounter to fall into the first group of academics I’ve described above.

So, what are the challenges of supporting the development of research impact at a UK university and how do we overcome these challenges?

• Incentivising our academics, particularly our early career researchers, to actively work towards achieving impact, without using the REF as either a carrot or a stick.

The first thing we found is that recognition for the work being done is a big incentive for academics and so we are thinking about including impact in promotion criteria. Academics should be commended for the work they are doing, but currently the focus is very much on grants and publications. Impact also needs to be showcased through prizes, events and websites. The REF is a great way for academics to showcase their research as most impact case studies, unless confidential, are published on a public website. However, only a very small proportion of work happening across an institution gets submitted as an impact case study for the REF, so it’s a great incentive to aspire to – but it shouldn’t be pegged as the be all and end all of ‘proving’ impact.

• Facilitating the development of impact literacy and skills in our academics and creating an impact culture in our institutions.

Incentivising our academics is, I believe, the first step towards creating an impact culture in our institutions. However, it is essential that they understand what impact means for their work and how they can work towards achieving it. I also think that it’s important to develop impact literacy as early as the doctoral level, but broadening the focus of thinking around impact away from just the REF is also crucial.

I have a lot of conversations with academics about the types of impact their work can have, which can be overwhelming for them. The question I get asked a lot is ‘how do I choose which impact paths to go down as I don’t have the time to follow them all through?’. I usually answer this with more questions: what impact is important to you i.e. what do you want to change about the world? What potential effects of your research on the world motivate you to do the research? When academics take ownership of the impacts of their research, they are then able to identify what skills they need to develop or hone to achieve them. It’s then that we, in research support, can facilitate the development of these skills.

It is only by rising to the challenges I have described above that we, as a research management community, will be able to help coordinate the global research effort towards achieving the international research impact agenda.

Reetika is a Research Impact Officer at a UK university, specialising in health and the biosciences. She completed her PhD in the biomedical sciences in 2015 and started her current role in 2017 after a 2 year postdoc. In her role, Reetika is responsible for providing strategic impact advice to academics working on impact statements for grant applications and the UK Research Excellence Framework exercise, and developing and raising the profile of her university’s research impact. She is also responsible for providing impact training for academics at all career stages.

Reetika is a member of ARMA, an ACU partner organisation, and belongs to the Impact Special Interest Group. If you would like to discuss any of the ideas put forward in this blog, please get in touch with Reetika on Twitter @ree_s89.