Designing and Implementing an Institutional
Impact Strategy: Two Experiences
Sarah Hall
Research Impact Strategy
and Policy Manager
&
Saskia Walcott
Ex-Research
Impact Manager
“No strategy required”
Saskia Walcott
Former Research Impact Manager at University
of Bath and now independent consultant
www.walcottcomms.co.uk
My experience
• Role: 50% IAA Manager and 50% Research Impact
Manager
• Existing structure: departmental impact
champions; ARD lead on impact at faculty level
and ProVC Research lead at university level
• Impact Awards associated with IAA
• No impact strategy and no desire for “yet another
strategy”...but there was a rolling schedule of
activity centred around the IAA calendar
• ....and a relaxed line manager...
A lot of talking
Some impact training
Mostly... unsure...
Settled on three areas of focus:
1. Coordinating the cross-campus impact team
Team Impact
RIS
Institute of Policy Research:
Hannah Durrant
Press Office:
Vicky Just – Science
Alison Jones – SoM
Andy Dunn – HSS
Rob Breckon- Eng&Design
Research
Development
Managers:
Laura Wisby
Matt Young
Gareth
Buchanan
Ben
Hutchinson
Commercialis
ation/
Industrial
Partnerships/
KTPs:
Jon Freeman
Research
Impact
Manager
Research
Information
Services: Katy
McKen
Public Engagement Unit:
Joanna Coleman
Helen Featherstone
Institute of Mathematical
Innovation:
Joanna Jordan
Marketing Comms:
Katerina Kelly
Alumni: Gavin Maggs
2. Skilling and engaging the impact champions
• Different levels of understanding and
interpretations of role
• Doing different things
• Wanted to create a better ‘network’ approach
• Hosted events to share what doing and
approaches
3. Impact beyond the REF
• Most academics on board with ‘impact’ –
generally very positive
• EPSRC IAA helped to encourage collaborative
projects with external industrial partners
• If unable to access the IAA (not an EPSRC
grant holder) there was no equivalent
resource
• Similar problem with the awards...
Reflections on working without a strategy
• Have to have structure that gives semblance of
form to what you are doing
• Without an official strategy difficult to validate
what you do (status)
• Difficult to measure
• Acquiring budget is much more difficult
• ...As is ‘buy-in’
• Important to articulate the organisation’s
definition of impact (not the REF definition)
Why have an institutional strategy?
• Many impact managers employed to “deliver” the impact aspect of
REF2014. But impact is more than just the REF…



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Important for grant applications, particularly in light of GCRF and ISRF
“Making the case” for research funding at the national level
Supports collaboration, partnerships and Enterprise
Significant for marketing & communication & reputation building
• Involves cultural change within
research community
• Research impact is too “big”
to manage alone
How did we go about it?
What do we want to achieve? 10 overarching aims and objectives
1. To have clear delineation of responsibilities in respect of impact
2. To communicate a clear definition of impact internally to ensure
that all researchers understand what impact is for their discipline,
are able to identify where it might occur and how to develop it
3. To identify potential and achieved impact arising from both
research and research-related enterprise
4. To track impact, implementing IT systems at the appropriate time to
capture impact activity and store evidence
5. To facilitate and to develop impact where appropriate, actively
seeking opportunities to broaden the reach and significance of
impact by adopting international and global perspectives.
Overarching aims and objectives
What do we want to achieve?
6. To provide recognition and reward for staff whose work produces
significant impact
7. To provide appropriate professional development support for
impact activities.
8. To integrate impact into researcher development and performance
processes in ways which promote equality, inclusivity and
transparency.
9. To communicate the impact of research (both realised and
potential) externally and maximise the reputational benefits of
impact to the University
10. To prepare for REF2021 and future research assessment exercises
Implementation Plan
How are we going to achieve it?
Through an institutional implementation plan
Commitment to making the plan SMART
(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely)
So implementation plan included:
• Exactly what we would do to achieve the aims
• How we would assess whether the objective was achieved
• Who would be responsible for delivering each activity
• When they would do it by
An example
6. To provide recognition and reward for staff whose work produces
significant impact
• Heads of Department and Heads of College will take account of
impact activity and potential when appointing new staff and in the
allocation of resource. Responsibility: HoDs, HoCs
• Consideration will be given to how the creation of research impact
will be included in criteria for reward through the annual review
round. Responsibility: PVC (R&E), HoCs, Vice Chancellor, Staffing
Policy Committee
• Achievement in research impact will form part of the University’s
promotions criteria. Responsibility: Provost; HR
An example
6. To provide recognition and reward for staff whose work produces
significant impact
• Subject to funding, an Impact Awards will be held to recognise and
promote impactful research both internally and externally.
Responsibility: Research Impact Strategy and Policy Manager; PVC
(R&E), Marketing and Communications, Impact Co-ordinators and
College Leads on Impact, Alumni Relations
• www.researchimpactawards.co.uk
Note: Of the four actions in the implementation plan, only one relates to
Impact Manager activity
A second example
5. To facilitate and to develop impact where appropriate, actively
seeking opportunities to broaden the reach and significance of impact
by adopting international and global perspectives
• Led to a successful bid for an internally funded REF-Research
Impact Development Fund. Now on third annual call.
Challenges
1. The impact manager cannot “control” everything
2. SMART – Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, Timebound
3. Dissemination and buy-in for the impact strategy (network of Impact
Coordinators and College Leads was critical)
4. Confidence – overcoming feeling “small” in a large organisation
5. Managing workload: prioritising, delegating and saying “no”
6. Understanding how the University functions in its entirety takes
time – sharing of strategies across divisions, departments, Colleges
helps (and the drinking of a lot of coffee)
Why have an institutional strategy?
• Attempt to draw together a large and complex organisation to
achieve a broad-ranging goal, i.e. more impactful research
• A framework for measuring and reporting on progress
• A vehicle for raising awareness of impact and “making things
happen”
Questions