Driving impact in Social Sciences

The university wanted to support academics and researchers from across the social sciences who wished to deploy their research and achieve societal impact.

We delivered an awareness building session where we used case studies to illustrate the different ways that academics (just like them!) had achieved significant impacts. We then worked with each researcher to investigate their insight and capability and all the ways in which it might be deployed. This enabled participants  who were often working across a vast problem area (sustainability, inclusion, upskilling, etc.) to see the more tightly defined opportunity that they could ‘own’ or influence. 

In a follow-on session, we worked with participants to explore all the ways in which they might activate their opportunity and to build a compelling plan of activities to deliver significant impact. Finally, we explored the different models of organisation and legal structures that were available to them, and helped each participant identify the most appropriate for them. 

On conclusion, the university had an expanded pipeline of opportunities to deliver societal impact, and a cohort of researchers who were more confident in their ability to work with external organisations and deliver this impact.

Next case study: Accelerating the ‘Future Founders’