Event Details

This one-day workshop is an ARMA ‘good practice exchange’ event aimed at those research managers and administrators from UK HEIs who are new to impact or support impact from an allied role. The session will help share practice about how colleagues are managing and supporting a broad range of impact activity in their institutions.

Target Audience

This GPE workshop focuses on understanding impact from both the perspectives of funding, engagement and research assessment.  It will consider: what is expected by funders, what is expected for REF, challenges and opportunities for managing impact within an institution, how impact can be weaved into everyday practice, and how individuals can support impact and engagement in whatever their role within the university. Participants will have the opportunity to consider their own contribution to impact and approaches within their own institution through interactive sessions.

Aims and Objectives

The aim of the workshop is to provide research managers and administrators with an insight into sector drivers for impact, along with practical strategies for supporting delivery of impact within their institutions. At the end of the session attendees will:

• be aware of the funding and assessment (REF) drivers for impact and how impact can be supported
• be aware of practical challenges and solutions for supporting impact and engagement ‘on the ground’
• have considered how lessons learnt and new ideas may be taken back to the home institution

Sessions that will be covered in the programme

Funding  Excellence  with  Impact in the whole research lifecycle

This session will consider the external funding landscape, and it’s role in the impact agenda. With a huge growth in challenge-led initiatives, and the growing expectation that grant applications must demonstrate a commitment to impact, we’ll explore the role that Research Development Managers play in supporting this agenda, and how this has changed practice in supporting grant applications. We’ll specifically focus on Research Councils, and key initiatives such as the Global Challenges Research Fund, the Industrial Strategy, and new Strategic Priorities Fund. We’ll also consider how this has impacted on other funders, and on academic expectations when approaching their grant applications and delivering their projects.

Pathways to impact best practice 

Applying the learning from the first session of the morning delegates will move on to an interactive Pathways to Impact session. Working in small groups to explore best practice in completing pathways to impact in funding bids.

Learning from REF2014, succeeding in REF2021 

With little over a year to until the REF submission deadline, this session will explore how best to prepare for REF2021. Drawing on lessons learnt from REF2014, and experience of what seems to be working well in REF2021, we will discuss what can be done to prepare for (and hopefully succeed in!) the final run up to REF2021.

How to make an ‘impact’ with impact training

This session reflects on the experience of developing a programme of impact training and development at the University of Leeds. It will describe what didn’t work as well as what has worked for different audiences. The crucial learning from all of this is to try to understand and unlock what motivates those different audiences – have you said something similar to an academic looking to engage an external stakeholder?