Designing and evidencing impactful research: creating the ‘golden thread’

Based on the presenter’s extensive experience of delivering impactful research with public and third sector organisations, and their resulting REF2021 Impact Case Study, this session will focus on sharing examples and practical guidance on creating a ‘Golden Thread’ between academic research and its real-world impacts, including:

• Tips for working with external partners

• How to embed meaningful impact into research plans

• Effective approaches for measuring and evidencing impacts

This session will also have a particular focus on measuring the social value of research and social return on investment. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Greater knowledge of practical approaches for embedding impact into research plans.

• Greater knowledge of practical approaches for measuring and evidencing impacts, with a particular focus on social value.

• Understand the importance of measuring the social value of research

Presenter information:

Professor Joanne Meehan, Professor of Responsible Procurement and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Business, University of Liverpool Management School

Brian Mangan, Value Based Procurement Project Lead for NHS Supply Chain Coordination Ltd

Steve Malone, Group CEO at Inprova Group

Professor Meehan's research centres on modern slavery in supply chains, social value in public procurement, and corporate power. Her work explores the commercial practices that allow social inequalities and environmental harm to persist, and crucially, what might be done to enable systemic change. Her work has won numerous international awards and she has been described in the business press as “one of the UK’s most influential procurement academics”. Jo is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management and she leads on the journal’s ’business-not-as-usual’ research.

Brian Mangan & Steve Malone were strategic partners in University of Liverpool's value-based procurement research in the NHS and in the UK’s social housing sector, providing access for initial data collection and for dissemination of our research results. Brian and Steve were critical in scaling the implementation of our research evidence to enable significant reach, and provided the team with impact data for our REF Impact Case Study.

The Researcher Development Framework (RDF) attributes developed during this session are relevant to the following sub-domains:

Domain A: Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities

A1: Knowledge base

A2: Cognitive Abilities   

A3: Creativity    

Domain B: Personal Effectiveness

B1: Personal Qualities   

B2: Self-Management

B3: Professional and Career Development

Domain C: Research Governance and Organisation        

C1: Professional Conduct

C2: Research Management        

Domain D: Engagement, Influence and Impact

D1: Working with Others            

D2: Communication and Dissemination

D3: Engagement and Impact

Accessibility Adjustments and Alternative Format requests: If you require any accessibility adjustments or have any questions about this session, please contact the the Academy's RD team Researcher@liverpool.ac.uk at least 7 days before the session date so that your requirements can be referred to the facilitator(s) who will make every effort to address them where possible.

Academy Researcher Development Inclusivity Statement: The Academy is committed to providing an environment which recognises and values people's differences, capitalises on the strengths that those differences bring to the institution and supports all staff and students in maximising their potential to succeed. In line with the Academy's firm commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, we offer all postdoctoral and research-related opportunities to develop and network irrespective of a researcher’s gender, ethnicity, age, self-identification, disability, religious affiliation, or any other criteria used to separate and define.

Academy Code of Conduct: All events organised or facilitated by The Academy follow a Conduct of Conduct irrespective of the number of participants or session format. The Academy thanks all participants in advance for your cooperation to help ensure a safe and constructive environment for everybody. The Code of Conduct is available at: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/researcher/development/conduct-events/

Important: We take your privacy very seriously and will only use your email address to send you information about this session. Thereafter, we will contact you only where you have given us permission to do so. After that, you can opt-out at any time of receiving our communication by simply sending an email to researcher@liverpool.ac.uk

Stay in Touch: For the latest news and information about research staff development opportunities and resources follow @LivResearcher on Twitter and the hashtag #LivUniRD. Further details about the University of Liverpool's Researcher Development activities can be found on the Researcher Hub: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/researcher/