REF and funding bid support

As part of our impact support we offer:

• REF Impact case study reviews
• Meetings to brainstorm impact prior to submitting bids or on achieving funding e.g Pathways to Impact, HEIF etc

REF Impact case study reviews

We recently made an offer to universities to assess potential REF case studies to identify what improvements might be made to enhance their ratings. It has been an interesting experience for us as it highlighted particular issues which were common to many of the submissions. For example, whilst nearly all the case studies we reviewed would have benefitted from a re-write to create a richer narrative, the greater problems stemmed from the difficulty of clearly identifying the beneficiaries of the research and, even when these had been identified, there were gaps, both creative and evidential, as to specifically what the benefits were.

Many of these problems stem from the fact that impact is being written ‘after the fact’, rather than the project having had engagement and impact milestones identified and reached, with evidence being collated whilst the work was on-going. HEFCE feel they have compensated for this difficulty somewhat by lowering the 2013 impact rating to 20% but this will rise to 25% in the coming years.

However, the good news is that there is still enough time left before submission for, in most cases, additional engagement to be made and evidence collated.

If you would like us to review a case study please drop a line to us at impact@bulletinac.co.uk for an informal discussion as to how we can help.

‘Impact brainstorm’ meetings

We are experienced in helping to brainstorm impact prior to submitting a grant proposal or at the beginning of a funded project. We can work with academics to help them identify the engagement and impact opportunities for their research and to produce a plan to ensure these opportunities are met. Several types of research grant enable costs to be included for specialist assistance in this area and we can help to give you an idea of the resources that might be needed to achieve the impact goals identified.

If you would like further information on ‘impact brainstorm’ meetings then please drop a line to us at impact@bulletinac.co.uk for an informal discussion as to how we can help.