BU Research Blog | impact | Bournemouth University

June 16, 2022

Sign up for a new course on participatory research: last few places!

Public engagement, Training Amanda Edwards

‘Participatory Research: Doing Research Inclusively, Doing Research Well’: 11th & 12th July, 1.30-3.30pm, BGB216

Learn how to engage stakeholders and communities in your research in a more meaningful, collaborative way in this short course, led by the co-director of the National Centre for Research Methods, Professor Melanie Nind. We have a small number of places left for researchers at all stages in their careers – you can sign up here.

The course comprises two 2-hour workshop sessions for 12-30 people (optimum 20) plus recordings and additional materials. Both sessions will be in person at the Bournemouth Gateway Building, and we encourage academics from all faculties to sign up for both workshops.

Participants will gain clear insight into the multiple agendas driving participatory research. Together we will develop know-how in addition to know-what needed for participatory research. The group will work collaboratively to develop their own ideas stimulated by shared examples and real-life conundrums.

Day 1: The why of participatory research – Adding value

Researching with not on: The changing dynamics of research and rationale behind the democratisation of research
Making the most of lived experience to add value to research
Participatory research designs and methods – different ways of knowing
5 practical changes we can make and why

Day 2: The how of participatory research – How to enhance research participation and quality

Co-producing research proposals and project designs
Participatory ways of working – getting ideas from successful projects
This is my truth – tell me yours – co-producing findings and outputs
5 steps to doing research inclusively and doing research well.

Professor Nind is also the author of What is Inclusive Research?, Director of the Centre for Research in Inclusion at the University of Southampton and Deputy Director of the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership. She has expertise in the areas of education, disability studies and methodology and extensive experience supporting the development of participatory/inclusive research both locally and internationally.

June 14, 2022

Professor Feigenbaum and her team launch guide on social media storytelling for health literacy

Knowledge Exchange afeigenbaum

Creating social media posts that aim to build health or information literacy is challenging. It is one thing to get likes on a video of a cute dog dancing or your latest holiday pics, it is another to develop reflective, empathetic understanding of complex phenomena in a bite-sized image or video.

To help guide people through the process of creating social media stories for information and health literacy, Professor Feigenbaum designed the Pick N Mix strategy. This Pick N Mix method is based on research findings from her team’s UKRI/AHRC COVID-19 Rapid Response project that analysed over 15,000 webcomics to look at the role this medium played in public health messaging on Instagram during the first year of the pandemic. The guide also draws from current research in psychology, graphic medicine and media studies. It was designed by creative studio partners Minute Works.

On 10th June 2022 Professor Feigenbaum and her team of BU student RAs — Katie Penfound, Kristy Hart, Linh Trinh and Abbie Smith — launched the new guide during a training workshop for stakeholders delivered to project partners from University Hospitals Dorset, CILIP The Library and Information Association and CEMP’s EdD programme.

The guide and stakeholder training session are set to make a meaningful impact, already getting great feedback from stakeholders.

Reaching out to a wider audience, on 14 June 2022, Professor Feigenbaum and BU alumni Ozlem Demirkol Tonnesen, an AHRC project RA and PhD Candidate at the University of Southampton, published a piece for The Conversation’s Quarter Life series, translating their storytelling strategies for social media content creators in their 20s and 30s.

Professor Feigenbaum and her team’s research on social media storytelling for health literacy will feature later this year at the British Science Festival. For more resources on social media storytelling for information and health literacy, you can check out their healthy socials training pack and AHRC project website.

June 8, 2022

Apply now for travel grants to help develop the impact of your research

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement Amanda Edwards

Funding of up to £200 available to meet potential and existing stakeholders

We have a limited amount of money available until the end of the academic year for researchers to help facilitate relationship building that leads to potential impact. All awards must be spent by 31 July 2022.

Apply for the Research Impact Fund small travel grant to support network-building and meetings with key stakeholders and policymakers, media appearances, or attendance at industry/policy/third sector events where network-building for impact is the key reason for attending. (Please note that this fund does not support conference attendance unless for this purpose, and where it is likely to lead to impact development.)

Eligibility:

You will be eligible to apply if you meet the following criteria:

You are an ECR and / or you are new to research, or
You can demonstrate you have emerging impact from existing research

Please familiarise yourself with BU’s Research Impact Policy and Research Impact Fund Guidance Notes before applying.

The online application form can be completed here.

Please contact researchimpact@bournemouth.ac.uk with any queries.

May 25, 2022

Online impact workshops: 8 – 9 June

Training ematthews

If you can’t join us for the upcoming BU Research Conference, but you still want to learn about ways to share your research and build impact, then you can book onto our online sessions instead.

We’re repeating the conference workshops online later in the week for anyone who can’t make it on the day or wants to take part in more of them.

The full online schedule can be found below – you can sign up for the online workshops through the BU Research Conference Eventbrite – just make sure you click the online option when booking your workshop.

Wednesday 8 June

Anatomy of a case study – 2 – 3pm

(Amanda Lazar and Beth Steiner, Impact Advisors)

This workshop will use examples of impact case studies from previous REFs to investigate what an excellent case study looks like and give attendees the opportunity to start building their own case studies from scratch.

Thursday 9 June

Impress the press: Engaging with the media for impact – 10am – 11am, Thursday 9 June

(Nathaniel Hobby, PR and Corporate Communications Manager and Emma Matthews, Research Communications Adviser)

Explore how working with the media can raise the profile of your research and lead to impact. Take away practical tips on talking to journalists, tracking the impact of media coverage and writing for The Conversation

Easing into policy impact – 1.30pm – 2.30pm

(Professor John Oliver, Professor of Media Management)

Professor John Oliver has a successful track record of delivering instrumental impact from his research, including the UK government’s ‘Build Back Better’ strategy and influencing UK communications policy and regulatory decisions.

This session will provide an outline of how to produce evidence that establishes the policy impact of your research. In particular, it will provide examples of recent policy impacts with both the UK communications regulator Ofcom and UK Parliament.

Make an impact with public engagement – 2.30pm – 3.30pm

(Amanda Edwards, Engagement and Impact Facilitator and Adam Morris, Engagement Officer)

Discover how public engagement can lead to research that achieves real change. We’ll explore what high-quality engagement looks like, provide real–life examples and help you apply it to your own research.

May 24, 2022

New Impact Accelerator Programme for ESS

Funding opportunities, innovation esteiner

Impact Acceleration Programme: InterAct

This programme will help researchers to enhance their ability to generate impact and provide funding to help them turn their research into more accessible outputs.

InterAct are looking for researchers from the Economic and Social Science (ESS) community or other disciplines that can capture human insights into the adoption of digital technologies and accelerate the digitisation of manufacturing to apply for up to £18,000 to turn results into outputs which are more accessible to policy makers, manufacturers, and Industrial Digital Technology providers.

The funding is available for academics whose research is ready for translation activity, not for further research, and results should already have been achieved but can be at an early stage and pre-publication.

Find out more about InterAct and this funding opportunity here, and if you intend to apply please complete the online ItB here.

If you have any questions about applying for funding please contact your Funding Development Officer, and for advice on impact acceleration plans or how to gather and evaluate evidence of impact please email impact@bournemouth.ac.uk

May 3, 2022

BU Research Conference: Building Impact – conference schedule

conferences, Public engagement, Research assessment ematthews

The first annual BU research conference will take place on Tuesday 7 June.

Professor Simon Hettrick

This year’s theme is building impact, celebrating our REF 2021 submission and exploring practical ways to create impact and share your research.

Our keynote speaker will be Professor Simon Hettrick from the University of Southampton. He is Chair of the Hidden REF, which aims to recognise all research outputs and every role that makes research possible. He will be talking about the Hidden REF and its role in campaigning for a fairer approach to research assessment.

We’ll also have quick-fire presentations sharing some of our research impact and a panel discussion around the role of impact in research assessment.

Several practical sessions will provide tips and advice around building impact and sharing your research. These will explore working with the media and policymakers, public engagement, commercialisation of research, and how to write an impact case study.

These sessions will also be repeated online later in the week for anyone who cannot make it on the day.

The half-day conference will take place in the Fusion Building on Talbot Campus from 1pm – 5pm on Tuesday 7 June. Sessions will also be streamed online for those who can’t make it in-person. The conference is open to all BU staff and postgraduate researchers.

Light refreshments will be provided, and the conference will be followed by a drinks reception from 5pm to celebrate BU’s REF submission.

You can find out more and book your place via Eventbrite.

April 28, 2022

Upcoming Research Impact Workshops

Training esteiner

We have several RKEDF impact-related workshops coming up over the next couple of months; please use the links below to book onto them via OD:

Getting started with research impact: what is it? 12 May, 2pm (repeated on 16th September, 10am)

Evidencing Impact 14 June, 2pm (repeated on 12 October, 2pm)

Impact and Funding Applications 30 June, 2pm

As part of the newly announced Research Conference: Building Impact on 7 June we will also be holding live sessions on the Anatomy of a Case Study, investigating what an excellent case study looks like. This will be repeated online the following day (8 June, 2pm) for those who can’t make it so do look out for booking links for this too.

If you have any questions, please contact the Impact Advisors – Amanda Lazar or Beth Steiner.

April 8, 2022

BU Research Conference 2022: Building Impact – sign up now

ematthews

The first annual BU research conference will take place on Tuesday 7 June.

This year’s theme is building impact, celebrating our REF 2021 submission and exploring practical ways to create impact and share your research.

The half-day conference will take place in the Fusion Building on Talbot Campus from 1pm – 5pm on Tuesday 7 June, with internal and external speakers and workshops. Light refreshments will be provided.

The conference is open to all BU staff and postgraduate research students.

It will be followed by a drinks reception from 5pm to celebrate BU’s REF submission.

We’ll be sharing more details around the schedule, sessions and speakers shortly.

To register your interest and receive further updates, book your place via Eventbrite.

April 7, 2022

Open call: last chance to apply for public engagement funding for 2022!

Funding opportunities, Public engagement Amanda Edwards

Apply for £500-£5,000 to fund your public engagement activity or event

The deadline for applications is midnight 24 April to enable funds to be awarded by mid-May. All spending must be completed by 31 July.

We welcome applications from researchers at all stages of their careers. RDS can provide 1-2-1 advice on preparing an application and will also work with successful applicants to support planning and delivery to ensure outcomes are achieved within the timeline.

This is the final opportunity to apply for internal funding this year for public engagement with research activity.

What we’re looking for

You will need to demonstrate that your proposed activity will involve a two-way interaction between you and your chosen public. The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) defines public engagement as “the myriad ways in which the activity and benefits of… research can be shared with the public”.

“Engagement is, by definition, a two-way process, involving interaction and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit.” NCCPE

How to apply

Please first read the policy and applicant guidance. Then submit the online application form. A PDF version is supplied so you may preview the form, but this must not be submitted. Supporting statements from HoDs may be submitted via email.

Applications must be submitted by midnight Sunday 24 April.

If you’d like to discuss your application with our PER team, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk.

April 6, 2022

Apply now for travel grants for impact development

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange mfancy

Grants of up to £200 are available via the Research Impact Fund to facilitate relationship building with external stakeholders such as policymakers or industry contacts leading to impact development.

The aim of this is to support ad-hoc requests leading to impact development, such as media appearances, meetings with policy makers, meetings with industry contacts, or attendance at industry/policy/third sector events where network-building (leading to potential impact) is the key reason for attending.

The funding can be used to meet with new stakeholders, organisations or groups or meet with existing stakeholders to gather testimonials or other evidence to demonstrate how research has made a difference (e.g. has resulted in real world impact).

Please note that the travel fund cannot be used to fund conference attendance except in instances where attendance will result in achievable impact or evidence of impact.

Eligibility:

You will be eligible to apply if you meet the following criteria:

You are an ECR and / or you are new to research, or
You can demonstrate you have emerging impact from existing research

Please familiarise yourself with BU’s Research Impact Policy and Research Impact Fund Guidance Notes before applying.

The online application form can be completed here.

Please contact researchimpact@bournemouth.ac.uk with any queries.

March 30, 2022

RKEDF Session – Evaluation: Developing your approach. Tuesday 12 April 2-4:30pm.

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Training ballen

Evaluation: Developing your approach – Why is evaluation important in public engagement? And how do you do it effectively?

We are delighted to have teamed up with the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE), who will deliver this bespoke session for BU researchers.

This interactive course will encourage participants to think about why evaluation is important, look at ways to get started, explore different techniques they can use, and consider what findings can tell the participant and their organisation or funder. With an emphasis on how to conduct evaluation, participating in practical activities and discussion as together the workshop facilitators and attendees will demystify evaluation and find the fun in revealing and identifying participants’ effectiveness.

These sessions are aimed at people with experience of public engagement with research; however, the session will be open to all experience levels.

Learning objectives:

To develop an awareness of the value and importance of evaluating public engagement.
To gain familiarity with the process of evaluation and the usefulness of planning.
To consider the uses of evaluation including improving activities; sharing good practice and reporting.
To begin to explore the issues and challenges of evaluating public engagement.

By the end of this session, you will:

Have a greater understanding and awareness of the importance of evaluating public engagement
Understand the processes of evaluation and how to plan for it.

It is a condition of booking that the attendee agrees that their contact email will be shared with the NCCPE for the purposes of programme administration.

Workshop	Date	Time	Location
Evaluation: Developing your approach	Tuesday 12th April 2022	14:00-16:30	Online

To book a place on this workshop please complete the booking form.

For any queries, please contact Organisational Development .

March 7, 2022

Research process seminar: Research, Policy Impact and Evidence. Tuesday 8th March at 2pm on Zoom

Daniel Jackson

You are warmly invited to join us for this week’s research process seminar. Hosted in FMC but open to all.

This session is the first of a series of seminars looking at research impact. John will reflect on his impact case study for REF 2021 (submitted for UoA34) and his ongoing role with UK Parliament in giving you practical tips on developing evidence of impact in the policy sphere.

Research, Policy Impact and Evidence – by Prof. John Oliver

This session will provide an outline of how to produce evidence that establishes the policy impact of your research. In particular, it will provide examples of recent policy impacts with both the UK communications regulator Ofcom and UK Parliament.

Tuesday 8th March at 2pm on Zoom

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/9292103478?pwd=UzJnNTNQWDdTNldXdjNWUnlTR1cxUT09

Meeting ID: 929 210 3478

Passcode: rps!4fmc

Hope to see you there

March 2, 2022

Embedding Impact in Funding Applications

esteiner

Writing about impact in a grant application can be challenging, but a strong description of the benefits you hope your project will have can make all the difference between getting funded or not.

This refers to Research Impact. Although some projects will have a theoretical scope with no discernible benefit outside academia, these are unlikely to be eligible for external funding.

You can find our A brief guide to impact on Brightspace which explains what we mean by Impact.

The Funding Landscape

Funders consider the whole call when reviewing applications, so think about what is currently big in policy/research/the media etc. The panel review all applications which have been shortlisted and will assess the potential impact of funding a group of them, not just individual projects.

PPI/participatory/engaged research has never been more important. Studies show that effective and meaningful co-production/involvement of beneficiaries enhances impact at every stage of the study so make sure to thread it throughout where appropriate.

A quick note on UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Recently the Research Councils dropped their required ‘Pathways to Impact’ attachment. This does not mean that impact is no longer important in applications, but that they want to see it woven throughout.

Funder Requirements

Requirements will vary by funder, call, theme, endowment etc., so always read the guidance and speak to your Research Facilitator for advice.

Academic excellence is fundamental. Consider additional collaborators if they would provide a different angle, and include knowledge mobilisers or those who are needed for implementation.

Look out for key words in the guidance that highlight impact: engagement, non-academic partnerships/governance, regional/national significance etc. ‘Value for money’ is also common- potential research is a social return on an investment and cost consequences are scrutinised.

For projects working with developing countries you need to aim for impact on the involved population. Try to demonstrate that the generation of impact will be led by those it most affects.

Impact in the Application

For a standard UKRI application you should be aiming to include impact in each section:

Objectives and Aims: integrate your research goals and your impact goals – funders want to see the need for the research.

Plain English Summary: non specialists need to be able to understand the impact so the panel can assess properly the problems you are solving and the proposed beneficiaries.

Case for Support: most of this needs to contain impact including the background to the project and its potential contribution, methods of research and their relevance/suitability, track record of the team, delivery milestones, monitoring and evaluation, success criteria etc.

Justification of Resources: cost impact in, you are encouraged to! Consider public engagement resources, evaluation costs, staff members – UKRI say that they want to see 10-15% of costs going to impact.

Work Packages (WP): either have an Impact WP, or include some impact in all of your WPs

Fast Track Impact is full of great resources including How to integrate impact into a UKRI case for support

For all funding applications:

Make impact easy to find: use formatting, cross referencing or signposting. This can also help with wordcounts, as flowcharts and diagrams if allowed often don’t count as text.

Involve beneficiaries/stakeholders/end users in the design of the research and impact plan: BU has brilliant resources for involving the public in research, so do contact PIER or VOICE for advice.

Think about the project’s longevity: consider what follow-on support you might need to generate/upscale impact, or how you might leverage further investment after the funding. This is difficult but funders like to see project sustainability and an exit plan.

Troubleshooting

If you have trouble identifying your potential impact, consider:

Aims – what do you want to change with your research?
Beneficiaries/stakeholders – who will benefit?
Activities – how will you reach your goals?
Evaluating and evidencing – how will you demonstrate change?

A Theory of Change model (diytoolkit.org) can be helpful in plotting these concepts.

Finally, remember that embedding impact at the start will improve both the application and your research, and that you should be aiming for game-changing (but realistic) results.

Some useful resources are listed below, and you can always get in touch with your Impact Advisors at impact@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Stakeholder analysis (ODI)

Research Impact toolkit (ESRC)

Impact tracking and evaluation (Matter of Focus)

Impact planning guide + template (Fast Track Impact)

Planning for impact – NIHR toolkit for researchers – ARC (many links)

PiiAF (Public Involvement Impact Assessment Framework)

Towards co-production in research with communities (AHRC)

February 15, 2022

Monitoring & Evaluating Impact: Free online training session Monday 28 February 2022

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Training ballen

Free online training session: Monday 28 February 2022 9:30-11:00am

About this session

Evidencing impact from research remains a huge challenge.

This workshop from Fast Track Impact will build on the paper by Mark Reed et al, “Evaluating impact from research: A methodological framework” (recommended reading prior to the workshop) to consider methods for evidencing impact in three particularly challenging areas: capacity building, policy and cultural impacts.

The three speakers will provide a variety of insights, case studies, methods and tips from their specialisms in evaluating impact.

Rachel Blanche (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh) will discuss how arts-based methods can be used to capture impacts in non-arts contexts and settings, representing a source of untapped potential for evaluation practice.
Poppy Townsend (UKRI) will consider how to evaluate capacity building impact from data services.
Mark Reed will discuss the evaluation of policy impacts.

The session includes significant time for group interaction, and participants are encouraged to bring their own evaluation challenges to the group for discussion.

Register here

February 15, 2022

Upcoming Research Impact Workshops – book now!

Training alazar

We have five RKEDF Impact-related workshops coming up over the next month; please use the links below to book onto them via OD:

Impact and Funding Applications: 16th February at 15:00

Influencing Policy – with Professor Mark Reed: 1st March at 13:00

Getting started with research Impact: what is it?: 8th March at 14:00

Inspirational Impact – a lunchtime seminar with Professor Zulfiqar Khan: 24th March at 13:00

Evidencing Impact – with Saskia Gent: 29th March at 9:30

We’d be delighted to see you there!

If you have any questions, please contact the Impact Advisors – Amanda Lazar or Beth Steiner

February 8, 2022

Q&A sessions for Research Impact Fund and Public Engagement Fund

Funding opportunities, Public engagement alazar

The second call for the funds is now live. Book now for Q&A sessions on applying for funding.

The deadline for applications to both funds is Monday 28th February at 17:00. There will be two further Q&A sessions to answer any queries you may have about applying, at 14:00 on 21st February and 10:00 on 24th February. You can book here.

Applicants are strongly advised to contact Impact Advisors Beth Steiner or Amanda Lazar (RIF) or Engagement Officer Adam Morris (PER) to discuss their proposals.