Academics are increasingly called to account for the impact of their research, sometimes as a requirement to secure research funding, sometimes through formalized evaluation processes, which might involve providing quantitative evidence. However, unlike for research quality whose assessment builds on long established consensus within subject areas on the criteria that make for better research, the assessment of research impact is a matter for debate. As research impact gains increasing importance for academic visibility and even for the purposes of funding allocation, it is imperative to better understand how it occurs and how it generates value for the economy and society. By bringing together researchers and policymakers, this workshop aims to advance debate on the nature and value of research impact:

How does academic research generate impact?
Does impact have a regional / geographical dimension?
What are the business and university practices that support impact processes? How do these practices support interdisciplinary research processes in particular?
Is it possible to identify metrics to capture the impact of research?

Programme:

10:00 – 10:15

Welcome and Introduction: Marion Frenz, Assistant Director, CIMR

Session I. Chair: Emanuela Todeva, BCNED

10:15-10:45: Loet Leydesdorff (University of Amsterdam) - The linear impact model and the articulation of societal demand: Options for synergy and innovation?

10:45-11:15: Jonathan Adams and Martin Szomszor (Digital Science) - Connecting research metadata with research process - constraints and opportunities

11:15-11:45: Martyna Śliwa (University of Essex) - Business and management impact assessment in Research Excellence Framework 2014: analysis and reflection

Coffee break

12:00-12:30: Anne-Wil Harzing (Middlesex University) - What can we learn from academic impact metrics?

12:30-13:00: Fernando Galindo-Rueda (OECD) - Data and indicators for measuring the impact of higher education research. Some takeaways from the OECD Blue Sky Forum 2016

Lunch

Session II. Chair: Rosa Fernandez, NCUB

14:00-14:30: Rick Delbridge and Tim Edwards (Cardiff University) - Measuring the impact of innovative initiatives: Cardiff University's Social Science Park and Responsible Innovation Network as case studies

14:30-15:00: Nola Dundas-Hewitt (Queens University of Belfast) and Steve Roper (University of Warwick) - Assessing the impact of universities on business innovation: A business perspective

Coffee break

15:00-15:30: Federica Rossi (Birkbeck), Ainurul Rosli (University of Westminster), Nick Yip (University of East Anglia), Muthu de Silva (University of Kent) - Academic engagement as knowledge co-production, and the implications for impact: evidence from Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

Session III. Chair: Jeremy Howells (Kellogg College Oxford)

15:30-17:00: Panel discussion - How can we best promote the impact of academic research, and what is the role of metrics?

Suma Athreye (University of Essex)

Steven Hill (HEFCE)

Gino Martini (Roche Innovation and King’s College)

Measuring The Impact of Academic Research; Best Practices & Open Questions