measuring the impact of research - professor mark llewelyn, arts and humanities research council
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Measuring the impact of research - Professor Mark Llewelyn, Arts and Humanities Research CouncilTRANSCRIPT
Arts and Humanities Research Council
Impact: where next?
Professor Mark LlewellynAHRC Director of Research
AHRCScope:• 27% of research-active academic
community within AHRC remit• Over 14,000 academics• Approximately 50 disciplines/sub-
disciplines• AHRC receives c.2.8% of the science
and research budget• Arts and humanities research
received highest 4* in 2008 RAE
Research Funding Schemes
• Leadership Fellowships• Research Grants• Networking • Follow on Fund• Highlight/themed calls
Leading the World: The Economic Impact of UK Arts and Humanities Research
(2009)• Terminology of ‘impact’• PwC figures: £1 invested in arts and humanities
research leads to £10 wider economy / £15-20 over long term
• Economic Capital• Civic Capital• Investment in Human Capital• Charted rise in AHRC KT funding: £200K in 2005/05 to
£3.3M in 2007/084
Hidden Connections (2011)• Language of exchange rather than transfer: “Nearly a third of academics
from the Arts and Humanities are engaged with private sector businesses and nearly a half of academics from Creative Arts and Media engaged with the private sector.”
• Innovation and creativity: “Nearly three quarters of businesses with an Arts and Humanities interaction are engaged in innovation activities compared to less than two thirds of businesses that interact with disciplines other than Arts and Humanities.”
• Businesses with an Arts and Humanities interaction are more likely to have made major changes to their business structure and activities compared to businesses that interact with disciplines other than Arts and Humanities. Overall, a third of businesses with an Arts and Humanities interaction believe that the interaction had a significant impact on the firm’s activities compared to just over a quarter of businesses that interact with disciplines other than Arts and Humanities
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Knowledge Exchange Strategy• Focusing core budget on a small number of longer
and larger grants for KE hubs in Creative Economy – 4:4:4 model – 4 hubs, £4M, over 4 years– View to a sustainable legacy– Increased leverage of funds– Diverse research and engagement models
• Smaller scale CEKE projects• Encouraging other KE work through Follow-on
Fund and Pathways to Impact• Cross-disciplinary working - Centre for Copyright
and New Business Models: University of Glasgow leading CREATe– Co-funded AHRC, EPSRC, ESRC within Digital Economy
programme
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Impacts through AHRC as strategic partner
• Working with Nesta and Arts Councils • Working with the Design Council• Creative England
– Studying regionality, innovation and creative sector• Previous work on projects such as Impacts08 looking at
cultural, social and economic impact of Liverpool’s City of Culture status in 2008– SMEs, tourism, heritage sector
• Cultural Value Project• Brighton Fuse
– 2-year project analysing the growth of Brighton’s successful creative, digital and information technology cluster / concept of the fused and super-fused business
– interplay between the arts and humanities and digital technology leading to innovation and business success
– examination of the role of HE and graduate skills 7
Challenges/where next?• Enhancing the case– case studies: AHRC and the REF– system knowledge
• Reporting mechanisms– RPEI / Impact Report
• Embedded funding schemes– Pathways to Impact but not Impact Accelerator Accounts– Follow on Fund
• Bespoke/strategic funding• Impact comes from excellent research