Impact Workshop (22): Comparing Impact Case Studies

Abstract:

Impact can take many forms, for example, influencing the review of legislation, changing policy and professional practice, and causing previously overlooked issues to be considered by law- and policymakers. As such, impact case studies can be hugely variable, not only in terms of the kind of impact being targeted, but also in terms of the bodies of research underpinning them. This workshop will provide a comparison of three different case studies (submitted to REF 2014) with a view to highlighting different successful approaches to achieving impact.

About the Speaker:

Dr Jennifer (Jen) Hendry is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds School of Law, Director of the School’s Research Centre for Law and Social Justice, and Vice-Chair of the UK Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA). She is a member of the School of Law’s REF reading group, which is a selective group of senior academics chosen for their standing and expertise within their respective research fields. This confidential in-house process tasks the group with reading colleagues’ self-selected published outputs and providing comment and ratings in accordance with current REF criteria and REF 2014 panel feedback.

Through her position with the SLSA, which is a learned society and law subject association with over 800 national and international members, Jen also participated in the 2017 Stern Review REF consultation exercise. The SLSA sub-committee’s response to this consultation considered the following issues: the structuring of the Unit of Assessment, the composition of the Expert Panels, the selection of sub-panel chairs, the number of outputs to be expected of each staff member, output portability, collaborative and interdisciplinary research, public engagement and impact, and environment.

Background on the Workshops:

Impact beyond the academia is a key element of the University's knowledge exchange (KE) strategy. Furthermore, Impact will become an element of assessment in the UGC RAE 2020, carrying a weighting of 15%. The UK experience in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 indicates that it is important to collect 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 for the UK REF 2014 or research councils overseas. The workshops will be of interest not only to colleagues who want to maximise the impact of their research, but also to those who coordinate research developments and research assessment in Faculties.