Impact and Knowledge Exchange in an Evolving Research Environment

The aim of the panel session was to reflect on research impact and knowledge exchange from different angles, from user perspectives and wide public debates, through institutional contexts and the interfaces with different funding bodies, and to international experiences. The session drew to a close a seminar series that included contributions from academics, funding bodies, and research managers, nationally and internationally, in the social sciences and beyond. The series included discussion of metrics, as well as of narrative approaches to articulating impact; of the REF and institutional responses to it, as well as of individual academics’ engagement with impact, and the challenges, benefits and dilemmas arising from it; of practical, as well as conceptual and critical, aspects of research impact. In this final session of the series, each panellist made a brief opening contribution, followed by 40 minutes of discussion with the audience.