Impact: Climate Knowledge Exchange Network27th June, 2012

The ‘Higher Ambitions’ for Impact• The REF should take better account of the impact research makes on the

economy and society

• The REF should continue to incentivise research excellence, but also reflect the quality of researchers’ contribution to public policy making and to public engagement, and not create disincentives to researchers moving between academia and the private sector

• Those institutions that can demonstrate a track record of delivering impact from their research will be rewarded

• This will help us understand and reinforce over time the way in which different funding choices are creating economic impact

• This will complement the continuing focus of the Research Councils in driving up the economic impact of the research base

The ‘Higher Ambitions’ for Impact• The REF should take better account of the impact research makes on the

economy and society

• The REF should continue to incentivise research excellence, but also reflect the quality of researchers’ contribution to public policy making and to public engagement, and not create disincentives to researchers moving between academia and the private sector

• Those institutions that can demonstrate a track record of delivering impact from their research will be rewarded

• This will help us understand and reinforce over time the way in which different funding choices are creating economic impact

• This will complement the continuing focus of the Research Councils in driving up the economic impact of the research base

Fred Inglis, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sheffield

Alan Mathison Turing, English mathematician and computer scientist

Turing and Inglis: an ‘Igniting Slur’?

• “Wherever one goes in the present-day British University, one finds not just general but universal agreement as to the fatuity of the “impact” criterion in the revoltingly named research excellence framework......... The language of the REF is everywhere flatulent and frequently mendacious, never more so than when defining impact ....it sounds bloody ludicrous”.

Improved health or welfare outcomes

Enhanced professional standards, ethics, guidelines or training

Improved risk management

Public debate has been shaped or informed by research

Improved quality, accessibility or efficiency of a public service

Most effective management or workplace practices

Improved business performance

Changes to the design or delivery of the school curriculum

Production costs have reduced

Research has enabled stakeholders to challenge conventional wisdom

A social enterprise initiative has been created

Policy debate or decisions have been influenced or shaped by research

Enhanced preservation, conservation or presentation of cultural heritage

Improved access to justice, employment or education

Improved forensic methods or expert systems

Organisations have adapted to changing cultural values

Jobs have been created or protected

Research has informed public understanding, values, attitudes or behaviours

Improved management or conservation of natural resources

Enhanced corporate social responsibility policies

Levels of waste have reduced

The policies or activities of NGO’s or charities have been informed by research

Changes to legislation or regulations

A new product has been commercialised

New forms of artistic expression or changes to creative practice

Changes in professional practice

Enhanced technical standards or protocols

ev·i·dence noun, verb, ev·i·denced, ev·i·denc·ing.

• noun – 1. that which tends to prove or disprove something;

ground for belief; proof. – 2. something that makes plain or clear; – 3. Law . data presented to a court or jury in proof of the

facts in issue and which may include the testimony of witnesses, records, documents, or objects.

• verb (used with object) – 4. to make evident or clear; show clearly; manifest;– 5. to support by evidence.

Measures Improved Documented changes Evidence from auditchange in guidelines

enhanced awareness public understanding Critical reviewspublic debate Increased Documented shift

service change Business performance measures SalesDemonstrable collaborations Commercial adoption policy debate

Changes Influence Published Verifiable influenceTraceable reference Priority shifts

Visitor or audience numbers and feedback AttainmentEngagement Standards, protocols, codes ImprovementsCitation

Parliamentary or other democratic debate Visitor or audience numbers Quantitative data Publication and sales figures

Growth Data Inclusion Descriptions InformationAgreements Acknowledgements Evaluations

Measures Improved Documented changes Evidence from auditchange in guidelines

enhanced awareness public understanding Critical reviewspublic debate Increased Documented shift

service change Business performance measures SalesDemonstrable collaborations Commercial adoption policy debate

Changes Influence Published Verifiable influenceTraceable reference Priority shifts

Visitor or audience numbers and feedback AttainmentEngagement Standards, protocols, codes ImprovementsCitation

Parliamentary or other democratic debate Visitor or audience numbers Quantitative data Publication and sales figures

Growth Data Inclusion Descriptions InformationAgreements Acknowledgements Evaluations

Measures Improved Documented changes Evidence from auditchange in guidelines

enhanced awareness public understanding Critical reviewspublic debate Increased Documented shift

service change Business performance measures SalesDemonstrable collaborations Commercial adoption policy debate

Changes Influence Published Verifiable influenceTraceable reference Priority shifts

Visitor or audience numbers and feedback AttainmentEngagement Standards, protocols, codes ImprovementsCitation

Parliamentary or other democratic debate Visitor or audience numbers Quantitative data Publication and sales figures

Growth Data Inclusion Descriptions InformationAgreements Acknowledgements Evaluations

Definitions

• Impact:– An effect on, change or benefit to the economy,

society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia

• Evidence:– Something demonstrable that is both verifiable

and traceable to underpinning research carried out by the submitting unit

Interdisciplinary Impact: the 3G Telecom Auction

• £22.47 billion raised for the taxpayer – enough money to fund 400 new hospitals – from RCUK funded research.

• The auction was designed by a team of economists from the ESRC Centre for Economic Learning and Social Evolution (ELSE) based at University College London using game theory to develop the discipline of mechanism design.

• Its success was therefore seen as a spectacular demonstration of the value of government investment in blue skies research.

Climate Change Impacts

Interdisciplinary Impact and Climate Change

• “Flooded roads, blocked railway lines and devastated homes – the severe flooding last autumn in Britain and other European countries reminded us how vulnerable modern society can be to extreme weather ....... The main challenge facing business in making sense of climate change lies in the complexity and uncertainty of its impacts.... To address these questions, we need interdisciplinary research”.

• April 2001, The Edge, ESRC magazine

What is Exeter doing about impact?1. Impact Review Group (IRG): reviewing all case studies and

statements yearly and providing feedback

2. Impact Strategy Group (ISG) identifying impact strategies for the REF and for RCUK at local, national and international level, and facilitating their implementation

3. Support and Funding: To calibrate or test impact at the University with external expertise and advice, including guidance from lay members of Council.

4. DESCRIBE project: £100k of external funding to undertake a systematic review of the evidence for Impact

5. The Exeter Catalyst for the Public Engagement with research: £300k of external funding to embed a culture of public engagement with research across the institution

HEFCE Timetable