Impact Workshop (17): Routes to 'Impact': thinking creatively and strategically about the process

Abstract:

How do you differentiate between a good and a great impact case study? What is involved in creating a convincing impact narratives? When does the process of creating impact begin? The focus of the workshop is about thinking critically and strategically both about what impact means, how to write impact case studies and ways to respond creatively and effectively to the process.

The impact case studies that Dr Johnson is going to talk about can be downloaded here.

About the Speaker:

Dr Mark Johnson is Reader in Anthropology at Goldsmith, University of London. Prior to joining Goldsmiths, he taught at the University of Hull where he served as Director of Research and REF lead for a large multidisciplinary School of Social Sciences. He also assisted in the REF 2014 preparations for Philosophy and contributed to drafting of their impact case studies. He was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Anthropology at Stockholm University, Autumn 2014, funded by the Forum for Asian Studies and was Visiting Professor in the Graduate School of Space and Gender, Universities of Gottingen-Kassel in April 2011. He is chair of the international expert advisory board for the EU funded Horizon 2020 Marie Curie ITN GRACE (Gender and Cultures of Equality in Europe) project, which is directed by Dr Suzanne Clisby at the University of Hull. He is PI of the AHRC funded project, Curating Development: Filipino Migrants’ Investment in Philippine Futures, which combines community arts based workshop and exhibitions to raise and address questions about the welfare of Filipino migrants and their contributions to national development in their home country. He is also PI (with Professor Maggy Lee, HKU and Dr Mike McCahill, University of Hull) of a British Academy funded project Big Data, Live Methods and Surveillance Subjectivities among Transnational Migrants in Hong Kong.

Background on the Workshops:

Impact is a key element of the University's knowledge exchange (KE) strategy. It is also important to note that in the Panel-Specific Assessment Criteria for the UGC RAE 2014, all the Panels included under the "Esteem" measure some elements relating to KE/technology transfer. This suggests that the next Hong Kong RAE will likely require evidence of impact and the UK experience indicates that now is the time to start collecting evidence of such impacts.

The Knowledge Exchange Office is organising workshops to be conducted by researchers who have hands-on experience in preparing impact statements and impact case studies the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 or research councils overseas. The workshops will be of interest not only to colleagues who want to maximize the impact of their research, but also to those who coordinate research developments and research assessment in Faculties.