Maximising the Value of Investment: Improving Social Outcomes through Rigorous Research and Funding
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Presentation Transcript
Funders • By: • Maximising the value of investment • Ensuring social outcomes are improved • Move beyond ‘telling good stories’ about impact • Bring rigour to the transformation of the production and use of research for society Knowledge production Policy, practice Changes to outcomes
University systems - Civil society - Public engagement Policy, practice and media - Funding streams Funders Capacity and skills Leadership and Training collaboration • Critical perspectives: • Gender • Race • Power and politics • Ethics and values • Democratic processes Knowledge production Research assessment - evaluation - quality Boundary spanners Strategies and interventions Brokers - Networks Communication -metrics Policy, practice Impact assessment Professional systems implementation Theory of change Engagement Altmetrics Changes to outcomes Impact assessment – inclusion and participation
What do we need to know? $ • Understand evidence production • Creating and curating useful evidence base • Skills and workforce, diversity and inclusivity • Documenting funding flows • Understand evidence use • Describing and documenting what ‘use’ we want to see • Describing what researchers do and why • Understanding what users do, how and why • Documenting impact • Improve evidence use • What have we tried? Interventions, strategies, structures, data • Develop methods to empirically investigate these • Bring critical perspectives to bear on these studies • Evaluate changes to social outcomes £ $ $ £ £
Our four goals: • Sharing expertise and best practice about evidence production and use • Connecting communities across sectors globally • Advising decision-makers on how to make best use of evidence • Generating new research on evidence production and use
Sharing expertise • Build on existing expertise about measuring, producing, mobilising knowledge • Translating key lessons across sectors and disciplines To do this, we will: • Produce learning resources for range of audiences • Actively promote cross-sectoral/disciplinary learning through seminar series
Connecting communities • Create opportunities for fertile conversations • Support careers and hybrid roles To do this, we will: • Convene meetings and conferences • Seek support for dedicated interdisciplinary PhD and post-doctoral programme • Internships, prizes and awards in hybrid space
Advising users and funders • Improving interfaces between research / policy & practice • Enabling funders and research users to draw on key lessons about evidence use To do this, we will: 6. Working proactively with research users to identify evidence use needs 7. Engaging with advisory mechanisms
Developing collaborative research programmes • Working with funders and colleagues to develop agendas • Key themes though joint working to ensure interdisciplinarity • Avoiding waste and duplication of effort • Ensuring investments in research are realised
Examples of themes include • Role of boundary spanners and intermediaries (Conservation, Science policy, health) • Ethics of engagement and coproduction (philosophy, critical sociology, research funders, international development) • Supporting diversity in research (critical race / feminist theory, research assessment, peer review and quality appraisal) • Improving quality of use of research (altmetrics, design, development, health, research policy)
Consortium funding • Seeking collaborative funding for: • Initially 3 biannual global conferences (2020, 22, 24) • Post-doctoral and PhD programme • Seminars and ECR support • Resources for leadership and educational materials • Long term, funding for research programmes & infrastructure • ESRC, Research England, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Nuffield Foundation, William T Grant, Gates Fund • Produce learning resources for range of audiences • Actively promote cross-sectoral/disciplinary learning through seminar series • Convene meetings and conferences • Seek support for dedicated interdisciplinary PhD and post-doctoral programme • Internships, prizes and awards in hybrid space • Working proactively with research users to identify evidence use needs • Engaging with advisory mechanisms • Funding truly innovative, interdisciplinary research