Closing Keynote

Wednesday - April 29th  

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Scaling Impact: A Research Management Framework for Mission-Driven Universities

Universities are increasingly expected to drive national and transnational “missions” that mobilise research and scale impact across industry, policy, civil society and other partners. Mission-oriented innovation policies have become an influential paradigme for funding and leading multi-stakeholder partnerships and programmes. In this talk, David Budtz Pedersen takes us on a journey into the world of mission-driven universities. Based on an integrated model of developing, designing, and implementing missions at universities and other research-performing organisations, the presentation introduces for critical dimensions of research management: ownership, leadership, alignment and impact. Each of the four dimensions present a mindset and skillset needed for orchestrating teams across disciplines, sectors and governance levels. Participants will leave with a mission-ready checklist for research management and a selected set of indicators for credible impact management. Strengthening research management is a high-leverage route for universities to deliver research excellence and measurable societal benefit.

Prof. David Budtz Pedersen, PhD 

Professor of Science Communication and Impact Studies, Aalborg University (Denmark)                          Director at the FRONTIER Center for Advanced SSH

David Budtz Pedersen is Professor of Science Communication and Impact Studies at Aalborg University (Denmark) and Director at the FRONTIER Center for Advanced SSH. His research focuses on the management, communication and impact of science and technology. He is a regular adviser to the European Commission, national academies, funding agencies, and universities. He takes a special interest in open, responsible and collaborative research focused on creating positive impact in society. In recent years, David has championed a new framework for research management focused on mission-driven partnerships, published as a book “Mission Guide: A Research Management Guide to Mission-Driven Universities” (2024).