As a precondition to receiving research funds, many research funders require applicants to state how their project will ultimately achieve impacts prior to any work being undertaken. Reflecting on a study of these impact statements made to the Science Foundation Ireland Investigators Programme, Lai Ma, argues that such statements often introduce a narrow short-term bias … Continued
Category: pathways to impact
Impact ‘agenda’ or impact ‘phantom’?
Responding to an emerging debate around the changing nature of the impact agenda in the UK, Richard Watermeyer, argues that the current moment presents a point of change; an opportunity to exorcise the ghosts of previous regimes of incentivising and assessing impact, and step towards a more meaningful social compact. Jude Fransman’s excellent piece in THE deliberating the consequences of plans by UKRI to abandon pathway-to-impact statements (PIS) as formal aspects of research funding applications, has pushed much of my … Continued
What 10 years of producing podcasts with social scientists has taught me
Last year, The Economist proclaimed the podcast had come of age. It’s never been easier to create, edit, and upload a podcast and an increasing number of academics are using it to showcase and share their research. Christine Garrington explains why podcasting is such a powerful and impactful tool for researchers, and also offers some pointers to those looking to start their […]