Supporting research impact across the RSI sector

On Valentines day, iPEN invited a range of representatives  working across the Research Science and Innovation sector to talk about supporting impact from research for the first of what will hopefully be some semi-regular 'catch-ups'.

COVID, working from home, and our group's work plan had meant that our focus had been fairly inwardly focused, especially as we worked on analysis systemic barriers and enablers of  impact.

We used our report to kick start the discussion, asking those who had gathered both in person or online whether our findings resonated with them, and if there were opportunities to collaborate where we had shared interest to support the sector's impact. 

What did we find out?

Our hui participants said that our findings resonated with their own experiences of what helps or hinders research impact.

We talked a lot about how both discourse and experience reinforce that supporting impact is a 'team sport' (a recurring theme also identified in the recent SfTī report - click here for our post on this last month) and the efficiency and effectiveness of taking a consistent approach across the sector wherever possible.

Having an opportunity to come together and discuss what we are all doing was much appreciated, and together we identified a range of tangible opportunities and actions we could progress to work collaboratively and in a more joined up manner.

What now?

​iPEN is already starting to progress some of these actions,  and we hope to share more of the fruits from this collective mahi in the months to come. This will include future invitations to discuss with others who missed this time around.

Click here if you'd like to read the full summary of our discussion (only 3 pages), as well as the agenda and list of who attended. If you're interested to find out more about what we discussed feel free to get in touch too.