Overview

The Impact Strategy Working Group (ISWG) was established by the Vice-Provost for Research and Enterprise in 2023 to consider how Imperial could develop a more consistent approach to defining, measuring and enabling research impact.

Imperial's researchers contribute to impact in many different ways – as innovators and generators of knowledge, thought-leaders, opinion shapers and engagers, entrepreneurs and future builders. The Working Group considered how the College could better understand and support these different routes to impact, and how researchers could be supported to achieve and demonstrate the wider benefits of their work.

The Group's work took place against a backdrop of increasing interest in research impact from funders and governments, and growing expectations that research investments should demonstrate wider benefits to society.

Consultation

The Impact Strategy Working Group undertook extensive consultation across the College in 2023, engaging with Faculty Research Committees, REF Managers, Research Advisory Group, Enterprise Advisory Group and colleagues across research, enterprise, planning, public engagement and research systems.

The consultation gathered perspectives on how Imperial could define, enable and measure research impact, and how existing structures and support could be strengthened. The findings informed the development of the Impact Strategy and the framework that underpins the Impact Toolkit.

From the Working Group to the Impact Toolkit

The Working Group's work provided the foundation for the Impact Toolkit, which translates this approach into a practical resource for researchers.

The framework developed through this work includes:

  • a shared approach to understanding research impact;
  • four Impact Types: Societal, Environmental, Health and Wellbeing, and Economic;
  • People, Partnerships, Places and Planet as enablers of impact; and
  • a Theory of Change connecting research activity to outcomes and real-world impact.

The Toolkit brings these elements together with practical guidance, worked examples and Impact Stories, helping researchers to plan, capture, communicate and monitor the impact of their work.

The Working Group's legacy

The Impact Strategy Working Group has now concluded its work. Its contribution was to establish the direction and framework that subsequent work has developed into practical resources for researchers and professional teams across the College.

This work has led to the development of the Impact Toolkit and Good Practice Guide, the introduction of Impact Stories to demonstrate different routes from research to real-world impact, and further work to strengthen how impact is recorded, reviewed and supported across the College.