Research Impact Seminar Series
The Research Impact Seminar Series provides a unique opportunity to tap into the expertise of national and international leaders in research impact. Through insightful discussions and the sharing of best practices from across the globe, our series aims to inspire researchers and the broader research community, both locally at University of Galway and globally, by providing valuable insights into optimising the societal impact of research.
Our seminars will delve into a diverse array of topics, carefully curated to resonate with the research and academic community, as well as professional support staff, and stakeholders across the country involved in research impact initiatives. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Identifying pathways to impact
• Public engagement
• Instruments for evaluating and achieving impact
• Practical strategies for measuring impact
• Evidence informed policy making
• Impact in funding proposals
Seminars
Dr Julie Bayley
Making a meaningful difference to society: An impact literate approach
Wednesday, 17th of April 2024, 1pm - 2pm
Overview
Impact - most simply defined as the ‘provable benefits of research in the real world’ - has become an increasingly core part of the research landscape in recent years. Impact features in the requirements for many funders and national assessments, is reflected in Global Sustainable Development Goals, and for many forms a core purpose of their academic life. We have a huge opportunity to contribute to societal change, but with so many potential ways to make a difference and so many competing pressures in academia, it can sometimes be difficult to know what paths to take. A key way to address this is to take an impact literate approach (Bayley and Phipps, 2017 & 2019) developing a critical understanding of the why, how, who and what of impact, to be able to make good judgements, collect appropriate evidence, and drive collaboratively towards meaningful change.
About Dr Julie Bayley
Dr Julie Bayley is Director of Research Impact Development at the University of Lincoln (UK) and Director of the Lincoln Impact Literacy Institute (LILI). She is a HCPC Registered Chartered Health Psychologist, Policy Lead for the British Psychology Society Division of Health Psychology and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at Nottingham University Hospitals. Julie consults widely on research impact and won the 2022 Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) ‘Impact Innovations’ award for driving impact literacy across the sector. Outside of work, Julie is a vascular patient advocate and was a dementia carer for many years. Her book ‘Creating Meaningful Impact: The Essential Guide to Developing an Impact-Literate Mindset’ was published in April 2023.
Dr Giovanna Lima
Unlocking the challenge of communicating impact as a researcher
Wednesday, 21st of February 2024, 1pm - 2pm
Overview
How can we communicate all we do in academia in a way that represents its benefits? Dr. Giovanna Lima will introduce the Researcher Impact Framework, a valuable tool designed to assist academics in identifying, appreciating, and articulating the diverse activities that constitute their scholarly journey. Download the Framework open access at https://doi.org/10.25546/98474. We will have plenty of time for your questions!
About Dr Giovanna Lima
Dr. Lima works with delivering strategic approaches to fostering and enabling societal impact in research, education, and engagement at multiple institutional levels at Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands). Prior to this, she served as Trinity College Dublin’s first Research Impact Officer with the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute, developing the Researcher Impact Framework, which has since been translated into French and Portuguese.
Dr David Phipps
A personal, institutional and national approach to supporting the societal impacts of research
Tuesday, 24th of October 2023, 2pm - 3:30pm.
Overview
This seminar will present a journey from individual research to institutional impact at York University and in the national Research Impact Canada network. We will discuss why this happened at York University and why it is happening in Canada and how Canada compares and contrasts to impact systems in other countries. But it's not all smooth sailing in Canada. There are misalignments between policy directives and institutional priorities. Participants will be invited to consider the Irish context and how Ireland and Canada might learn from each other.
About Dr David Phipps
Dr. Phipps is the administrative lead for all research programs and their impacts on local and global communities at York University (Toronto, Canada). He has received honours and awards from the Canadian Association of Research Administrators, Society for Research Administration International, Institute for Knowledge Mobilization, International Network of Research Management Societies and the EU based Knowledge Economy Network. He received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work in knowledge mobilization and research impact and was named the most influential knowledge mobilizer in Canada. He sits on knowledge mobilization committees around the world and is Network Director for Research Impact Canada.
Esther De Smet
From Scicomm to Impact
Thursday, 6th of July 2023, 11am - 12:30pm.
Overview
"Science not communicated is science not done" is a catchphrase that has been around for a long time now. But as a researcher you are already struggling to juggle so many things, that adding this challenge to the mix might feel overwhelming. This session by Esther De Smet hopes to show you how you can embed your research communication into your day-to-day reality, including tips on how to develop a plan for impact, assess and maintain your digital identity, understand basic storytelling techniques and other building blocks of a research communication strategy.
About Esther De Smet
Esther is Senior Policy Advisor at the Research Department of Ghent University (Belgium). Her work focusses around three closely linked areas: societal impact of research (developing and implementing institutional strategy), knowledge management (functional analysis for the research management system GISMO), and research communication (advice and workshops on communication strategy, curator of @ResearchUGent). She is deeply committed to creating a stimulating and nurturing research culture at her university and making sure its research has a real world impact.