In The Impact Agenda, Katherine E. Smith, Justyna Bandola-Gill, Nasar Meer, Ellen Stewart and Richard Watermeyer bring together research about the impact agenda and its policies into one critical discussion to highlight why it creates the controversies, consequences and challenges of the book’s subtitle. Calling on the UK academic community to seize the opportunity to reshape the impact agenda in more positive and … Continued
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Between science and policy—Scrutinising the role of SAGE in providing scientific advice to government
Reflecting on his role as chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee, Greg Clark MP, discusses the effectiveness of the UK’s scientific advisory body SAGE during the COVID-19 pandemic and considers the importance of transparency in assessing the extent to which scientific research can effectively guide government policy. Since March, the Committee that … Continued
Assessing research impact – a tale of 7 impact studies
How to assess research impact? Sarah Morton draws on her own experience of assessing impact arguing that despite diverse topics, settings and countries, there are patterns of successful impact that can help move our learning forward. She outlines her five top lessons for designing and evaluating impact in a research project. I am not … Continued
Unfunded research: Why academics do it and its unvalued contribution to the impact agenda
Unfunded research takes time and money for already stretched academics. Yet it makes up over a quarter of all research carried out in British universities. Professor Rosalind Edwards has spoken to academics about why they do unfunded research and argues that universities need to revalue this work in light of the significant contribution it makes … Continued
Retaining the Human Touch When Supporting Students in Transitioning to Asynchronous Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
The transition to online, asynchronous learning poses just as many challenges for students entering the online classroom as it does for academics mastering the platform. Cynthia Wheatley Glenn outlines what to look out for to spot students who might be struggling and key strategies for assisting students in overcoming barriers to successful participation in online … Continued
How an audience-first approach to social media increases engagement with your research
Developing an online presence can be an effective way to communicate research. However, simply sharing your output on social media is not enough. Who this reaches is important for impact and scholarly debate. Kirsty Wallis calls for an audience-first approach to social media, arguing that taking the time to understand your audience and your social … Continued
STEMM in Parliament: what oral history tells us about MPs and science
Emmeline Ledgerwood draws on evidence from archived oral history interviews to consider the extent to which an MP’s background in science, technology, engineering, maths, and medicine has contributed to his or her activity as a parliamentarian. This post originally appeared on the LSE British Politics and Policy Blog. The varying national responses to the coronavirus … Continued
It’s Time to Get Serious About Research Fraud
Only a small fraction of research misconduct ever comes to light. Independent investigative bodies could remedy that argues Dalmeet Singh Chawla. This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article. In 2016, Sophie Jamal’s career took a turn for the worse. The bone researcher and physician was banned from federal funding for life in … Continued
The Case of Bookcases
In this post David Beer reflects on what the attention given to bookcases during the COVID-19 pandemic reveals about our enduring attachments to particular surfaces, spaces and presences and their role in the materiality of research, writing and teaching. This post, originally published in the author’s ‘Fragments of Modernity’ newsletter, and appeared on the LSE Review of Book’s … Continued
When evidence does not matter – What Brazil teaches us about the fragility of evidence based policymaking
An underlying assumption of modern political states is that they are rational systems that ‘follow the science’ to achieve optimal outcomes for their citizens. Whilst COVID-19 continues to foreground the strengths and weaknesses of different national scientific advice systems, Flavia Donadelli draws on evidence from Brazilian policymaking to argue that evidence informed policymaking is a … Continued