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Global Research Impact Comes to Seattle

The 2023 SRAI Annual Meeting in Seattle includes a dedicated Track on Research Impact & Communication. As Director of Research Impact at a UK university and lead for research impact at a Canadian university and lead for a national research impact network, we have a keen interest about how we use the “impact” word around the world. 

UK Research & Innovation describe it 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”. This includes not only technology transfer to seek an impact via industry, it explicitly invites academics to influence public policy, the environment and culture. The National Science Foundation asks that “publicly funded research has tangible benefits to society that go beyond increasing knowledge”. They include examples not emphasized in the British perspective – to improve STEM education, develop the workforce and increase the diversity of students, scientists and the STEM workforce.  In the European Commission the term “valorization” describes “promoting knowledge and technology use, intellectual property management and the involvement of the citizens, academia and industry.” An elegantly brief definition by Julie Bayley (U. Lincoln) is “the provable effects of research in the real world”.

The presentations in the Research Impact and Communications track will explore these differences, identifying what we can learn from each other. Our talks will help distinguish the ultimate goal of better businesses, national security, public health and social services, from the collaborative processes we use to get there – often called knowledge transfer / exchange / mobilization and valorisation. We will look at how research managers build the right conditions and funding for impact in the humanities and social sciences, as well as in STEM, in both the UK, Canada and USA. 

Given the varied definitions of research impact, how then do we evaluate it? There are many different approaches, from evaluating the economic value of working scientists and laboratories, through to the almost 7,000 impact case studies produced for the UK Research Excellence Framework. Conference sessions from Canada will look at how we understand societal impacts, how researchers and partner organisations can engage equitably, and how to build inclusivity and diversity into research impact plans.

This can all seem rather complex and doesn’t address why we need to build research impact. My colleagues in Bristol explain it simply as “making the world a better place” and I describe my job as getting research into the hands of people and organisations who can use it. The SRAI conference is grounded in the reality of delivering research and its impacts, across the USA and many other countries. That will ensure we head home from Seattle with new ideas and practical ways to put them into action. 

Register for the 2023 SRAI Annual Meeting in Seattle today and learn more about Research Impact and Communications! 

Authored by

Andrew Wray, Director of Research Impact, University of Bristol

David Phipps, Assistant VP Research Strategy & Impact, York University, and Network Director, Research Impact Canada