LSE Public Policy Group invites you to attend the final conference of the Impact of the Social Sciences Project on Tuesday 4th December at Senate House Library in central London.

The event is to mark the end of the three-year Impact of Social Sciences project based at the London School of Economics that has been funded by HEFCE. Working with colleagues at Imperial College London and the University of Leeds, we have looked at the nature and measurement of impact of academic research in the social sciences on government and policymaking, business and industry, and civil society. As part of the project we have run the Impact of Social Sciences blog <http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/> that has been very well received and recently won a Times Higher Education award for knowledge exchange.

The conference will draw the research project to a close, discuss the results and outcomes of the project but also, as the title of the conference suggests, seek to look forward to how impact research and measurement might develop over the next ten-year period looking beyond REF2014. There will be a range of sessions during the day including practical and more theoretical panel discussions. More information on these sessions will be distributed following registration.  

Confirmed speakers:

Julia Lane American Institutes of Research

Jason Priem ImpactStory

Patrick Dunleavy LSE Public Policy Group

Cameron Neylon PLOS

Stephen Curry Imperial College London

Victor Henning Mendeley

Sir Adrian Smith University of London

David Sweeney HEFCE 

Nicola Dandridge Universities UK

Ziyad Marar SAGE Publishing

Mark Thorley RCUK Research Outputs Network 

Craig Calhoun LSE

The full schedule is as follows:

10.00 – 11.30           Session 1: The Economic Impact of Academic Research

Speakers:
Patrick Dunleavy – LSE
Sir Adrian Smith – Vice Chancellor, University of London
Nicola Dandridge – Chief Executive, Universities UK
CHAIR - Simon Bastow, LSE

11.30 – 11.45              Tea/coffee break

11.45 – 13.15              Session 2: Impact and the New Digital Paradigm
Speakers:
Victor Henning – Co-Founder & CEO, Mendeley Ltd
Ziyad Marar – Global Publishing Director, Sage
Jason Priem – Co-Founder, ImpactStory
CHAIR - Jane Tinkler, LSE

13.15 – 14.00              Lunch

14.00 – 15.30              Session 2: Next Steps in Assessing Impact
Speakers:
Julia Lane – Senior Managing Economist, American Institutes of Research
Cameron Neylon – Senior Scientist, Science and Technology Facilities Council/ Advocacy Director, PLoS
David Sweeney – Director (Research, Innovation and Skills), HEFCE
Chair - Patrick Dunleavy, LSE

15.30 – 16.00              Tea/coffee break

16.00 – 17.30              Session 4: Impact as a Driver for Open Access
Speakers:
Stephen Curry – Imperial College London
Mark Thorley – RCUK Research Outputs Network
Robert Kiley – Head Digital Services, Wellcome Trust
CHAIR - Jude England, The British Library 

18.00 – 19.30            Networking Drinks Reception
Including closing remarks from Craig Calhoun, Director of the London School of Economics.

Lunch will be provided and the event will be followed by a networking drinks reception.