Klarlund, Henning

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Roskilde Universitet

RoskildeUniversityResearch impact for global challengesKlarlund, HenningPublished in:Research GlobalPublication date:2010Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordCitation for published version (APA):Klarlund, H. (2010). Research impact for global challenges. Research Global, 2010(24), 6-7+11.General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.            • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.            • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain.            • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact rucforsk@ruc.dk providing details, and we will remove access to thework immediately and investigate your claim.Download date: 02. Dec. 2021Climate change, global press ureson natural resources, and geo -pol itical transformations arechall enging universities andresearchers for responses. In TheWorld in 2025 – a report by the EuropeanComm ission – the major future trends high -lighted are: geopolitical transformations interms of population, economic development,international trade, and poverty. The report alsooutlines issues relating to natural resources (food,energy, water, and minerals), migrations, andurbanisation. Among other challenges, we arefaced with new transitional pathways that havebeen drawn towards a new production andconsumption model, new rural-urban dyn am -ics, and a new gender and intergenerationalbalance.These major challenges affect us all – policyshapers, researchers, and citizens. In the know -ledge-based economy, society wants researchto result in beneficial and measurable impacts.This influences the universities’ future researchand funding strategies, as well as the futureroles of research managers and administrators.The nature of these challenges call for globalcollaboration. In this context, the global researchcommunity has an important role to play infinding solutions and seeing the challenges asopportunities.Evidence-based policiesResearch results contribute to a reservoir ofscientific knowledge and technological optionsfor others to fish in. Research, of course, alsocreates new understanding, new technologicaloptions, innovations, and expert advice. Butthe changing role and position of govern -ments has resulted in a growing demand forevidence-based policies. At the same time,many countries are emphasising and investingin innovation activities that will have to bejustified in terms of return of investment. Research evaluationResearch evaluation is practised in relation toresearch groups, institutes, research areas, res -earch programmes, univer sities, and researchcouncil systems. The eval uations are incorp or -ated into national systems for the appropriatedistribution of resources, and in the globalranking of universities. In order to supplement and balance thetraditional research quality evaluation (whichfocuses on discoveries, publications and pat -ents, for example), it is important to assess thesocio-economic impacts and the efficiency ofpublic spending, and to enhance public will -ingness to finance research. However, socio-economic impacts cannot stand alone.  Research impactIdentifying the nature and scope of impacts isimportant in order to recognise the spectrumof potential impacts of research activities. Thedifferent impacts can be diverse in scope, aswell as in nature. Impacts may accrue to societyas a whole, to a particular group of people, toa research group, or to enterprises or otherinstitutions. In 2006, Godin and Doré, in a series ofinterviews with researchers from 17 publiclyfunded research centres and with current andpotential users of research results from 11 socialand economic organisations, const ruct ed atypology of 11 dimensions of the impacts ofscience on society. Identifying the type of im -pact to be measured is crucial when decidingon the choice of methodology or meth od ol -ogies for assessing the impact of public researchand development. Godin and Doré use thecon cept of science and technology, which is abroader concept than public R&D. Eleven dimensions of the impacts of research on society(Godin and Doré, 2006)1. Science impacts: Research results have aneffect on the subsequent progress of know -ledge, thanks to advances in theories, meth-odologies, models, and facts. They affectthe formation and development of discip -lines and training and can also affect thedevelopment of research itself, generatinginterdisciplinary, cross-cutting, and inter -nat ional research.2. Technology impacts: Product, process, andservice innovations, as well as technicalknow-how, are types of impacts that partlyresult from research activities. There arefew indicators, other than patents, forprop erly assessing this dimension, at leastuntil work based on innovation surveysresults in an analysis of outputs andimpacts, as well as innovation activity itself.3. Economy impacts: These refer to theimpact on an organisation’s budgetary sit -Research impact for global challengesThe current challenges facing society and science are not only immense, butglobal. Thus, foresight and forward-looking activities are essential when tryingto take appropriate measures to meet these challenges. Henning Klarlundhighlights the increasing importance of ‘impact’ to research projects.6  Research Global February 2010Impact has now thesame weighting asscience whenevaluatingapplications inmany researchprogrammes. This, in turn, willinfluence fundingstrategies atuniversities. uation (operating costs, revenues, profits,the sale price of products); on the sourcesof finance, investments and production act -ivities; and on the development of newmarkets. At the aggregate level, they canalso refer to economic returns, through eithereconomic growth or productivity growth,of a given geographical unit. It is probablythe best-known dimension.4. Culture impacts: These relate to whatpeople often call public understanding ofscience but, above all, to four types of know-ledge: know-what, know-why, know-how,and know who. In other words, these arethe impacts on an individual’s knowledgeand understanding of ideas and reality, aswell as intellectual and practical skills,attitudes, interests, values, and beliefs.5. Society impacts: Research affects the wel -fare, behaviour, practices, and activities ofpeople and groups, including their well-being and quality of life. It also concernscustoms and habits: consumption, work,sexuality, sports, and food. Research cancontribute to changing society’s views andmodernise ways of doing business.6. Policy impacts: Research influences howpolicy makers and policies act. It can prov -ide evidence that influences policy decis -ions and can enhance citizens’ participationin scientific and technological decisions.7. Organisation impacts: These refer to theeffects on the activities of institutions andorganisations: planning, organisation of work,administration, human resources, etc.8. Health impacts: These relate to impacts onpublic health, e.g. life expectancy, prev ent -ion of illnesses, and the health-care system.9. Environment impacts: These concern man -agement of the environment, notably naturalresources and environmental pollution, aswell as the impacts of research on climateand meteorology. 10. Symbolic impacts: These are the gains inareas such as credibility due to undertakingR&D, or linked to universities or researchinstitutions that offer gains in terms ofpotential clients, etc.11. Training impacts: These are impacts ofresearch on curricula, pedagogical tools, qual -ifications, entry into the workforce, etc.All but the first three dimensions are some -what new to statisticians, as they are lesstangible and there -fore difficult to meas-ure or evaluate. Thistypology provides achecklist to remindprincipal invest ig -ators and res earchsupp ort off icers thatres earch affects areasother than thoseusu ally identified andmeas ured. Fur ther,im p act has now thesame weight ing asscience when eval u -ating app lic at ions inmany research prog -ra mmes. This, in turn,will influ ence fund ing strat egies at univ er sit ies. Mind the gapRelevant prior or ex-ante impact assessment (IA)can play an important, and sometimes crucial,part in a funding application. However, fewresearch outcomes (productivity gains, pop ul -ation health improvements and environmentalbenefits, for example) only have one cause,and the spillovers are multiple.There is often a considerable gap betweenex-ante impact assessment and ex-post find -ings. This is mainly due to the evolution of thecontext of the research and the research cap -acity, as well as changes in society’s needs andexpectations. This often leads to a lengthy timelag from idea to product, thus the ex-post IAoffers only indirect insights related to actualresearch priorities. Research impact should therefore be ass ess -ed in any research project proposal. Proposalsshould describe how the anticipated resultswill have short and long-term impacts, andhow the results are planned to be disseminatedand targeted towards the different audiences. Impact profileTo track the progress of a project, it is imp -ortant to establish an ‘input to benefit’ chainmodel which articulates how, and by whatmechanisms, planned activities will affect theintended impacts. A set of SMART impactindicators (Specific, Measurable, Achievable,Realistic, Time-dependent) could be a veryrelevant and useful tracking tool, as long asone remembers that, to a great extent, you getwhat you measure! The elements in the value chain consist of:● Inputs – financial and human resources,comm unication, cooperation ● Outputs – discoveries, publications, citat -ions, patents, etc.● Transfers – engagement with end-users● Outcomes – new/improved products, ser -vices, or processes● Impacts – achieved improvements● Benefits – to society(partly inspired by Michelle Duryea, MarkHochmann and Andrew Parfitt – see references).Figure 1 illustrates how research can have awide impact on society. The eleven impactdim ensions shown above, depending on thesituation and the discipline, differ in their scoreon the value chain from ‘inputs’ to ‘benefits’.The red-coloured frame in the radar chart can,in this case, represent a given project’s exp -ected or achieved results. Variations in discipline will, to a certainextent, influence the availability and robust nessof the indicators, which should be quant it -ative, qualitative, and progressive in order toallow for monitoring of progress.The more research activity related the proj -ect objectives are, the closer the outputs willbe to the inputs. Moving up the value chain,ScienceBenefitsImpactsOutcomesTransferOutputsInputsTrainingSymbolicEnvironmentHealthOrganisation PolicySocietyCultureEconomyTechnology➔➔➔➔➔●●●●● ●●●●●●➔Figure 1: Impact profileContinued on page 11February 2010 Research Global 7some of the successful outputs will (depend ingon the objectives, discipline and indicators)evolve into benefits to society. When specificand strategic objectives are accomplished withhigh impacts within all the eleven dime sions,there are more benefits to society.In figure 1, the higher the impact value, thecloser the red line will be to the cir cum ferenceof the web. In this example, there is a very highimpact score for science, policy, environment,and training. This illustrates that the project hasachieved considerable improve ments withinthese four dimensions and is close to achievingthe highest score  – ‘benefits’. On the contrary,you will see that the economy, culture, andhealth dimensions have the lowest score. Theyare all in ‘transfer’, meaning the project hasgained an exposure to end users, but has not yet(intentionally or unintentionally) achieved the‘benefits’ value within these three dimensions.The above example could represent a res -earch project focusing on and developing newand improved methods to assess environ men -tal consequences. Here, the estimated resultswould be of great importance within the en -suing interdisciplinary work in policy devel -opment, environmental issues, and training.To add further value to the impact profile,depending on the use, one could include para -meters such as external research funding,inter national research collaborations, and diss -em ination activities.DisseminationTo improve the dialogue, dissemination, anduse of scientific results in society as a whole, itwill be necessary to make exploitation plansand strategies for enhancing the impact viasocial networking websites, online comm un -ities, and Web 2.0, for example.International standardIt is important that an internationally ack -nowledged comparable standard for impactprofiles is developed and implemented at bothuniversity and research support office level.Besides being used for research policy meas -ures, it ought to be an integrated part of theindividual proposal or project. The fun ction ofimpact profiles and the chosen indicatorsdepends, to a large degree, on the politicalsystem and the political culture. An international standard would pave the wayfor research administrators and man a gers, andwould better support researchers in iden tifyingthe specific benefits of their research and itspotential users. This will contribute to account -ability, which can be important when ens uringfuture political support for research in a worldwhere collaboration has become the new com -petition.ReferencesEuropean Commission, ‘The World in 2025’(2009)Godin, B. and Doré, C., (2006), ‘Measuringthe Impacts of Science: Beyond theEconomic Dimension’, working paper,mimeo in OECD Science, Technology and IndustryOutlook 2008 (2008)Michelle Duryea, Mark Hochman and AndrewParfitt, ‘Measuring the impact of research’,Research Global, 15 (2007), 8-9Topics have included: ● The impact of the economy on researchadministration● Getting the most out of your grant budgets● Clinical trial billing – not for the faint ofheart● Conflicts of interest and the new standardsof conduct rules● Export controls – basics and intermediate● Interpretation and implementation of theNational Science Foundation’s requirementto facilitate ethical conduct of researchAdditionally, the SRA has dev el op ed an onlineprof essional networking comm unity, ‘Net -work ing Nirvana’. This community includesdiscussion groups, blogs, the SRA cal endar, aneLibrary (currently under develop ment), andwill soon have the migration of the Body ofKnowledge completed.In response to changing membership needs,the SRA has restricted its meeting formatsfrom four section meetings per year to twojoint section meetings. It also offers smallertargeted topical meetings, including meetingson the basics of research administration.For all individuals involved in the researchenterprise, the past two years have been an inc -redibly challenging time. Research administ rat -ors have faced the twin chall enges of reducedinternal and ext ernal backing for the researcherswe support, in addition to the increased demandfor our services. In his poem If, RudyardKipling wrote:If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!And in light of the events of 2008 and 2009,we would add that you are a successfulresearch administrator, too!The complete SRA survey and responses canbe viewed at www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=YSKF578nGAIrNBtxN9uwyYuKpRzKueOQKwTeEXVGePM_3dFebruary 2010 Research Global 11Henning Klarlundis Senior Adviser,Research Supportat Aarhus Univ er -sity, Denmark.Email:hennklar@rm.dkRGSandra Nordahl is Co-Director,Sponsored Research Contracting andCompliance at San Diego StateUniversity Research Foundation, USA.Email: snordahl@foundation.sdsu.eduPhilip V. Spina is Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officerat the Children’s Memorial ResearchCenter, USA.Email: pspina@childrensmemorial.orgRGContinued from page 5Continued from page 7

Research impact for global challenges

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