Researchers are faced with an increasing demand to identify, describe and document the impact of their research. As research supporters we need to understand what impact is and how the potentials for impact in research projects can be enhanced.
Defining impact
Impact can be understood as research leading to an identifiable change in a societal or institutional practice/procedure/process or a technological product/method used in the real world.
This means that:
Most definitions of research impact distinguish between academic impact (such as publications and citations) and societal impact (effects beyond academia). When describing impact, e.g. in research applications, it is important to be aware of this distinction.
A small collection of definitions can be found here:
Impact seen from different levels
Slide from Succex University 2018 - om impact i ansøgninger