Research Impact Accelerator Launches to Drive Social Impact in 2024
Research Impact Canvas workshop at the Sydney Knowledge Hub 8 April 2024
The RIA, pioneered by SSSHARC, is a key part of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences’ research strategy.
It aims to optimise opportunities and build the skills needed for FASS researchers to obtain government, industry and philanthropic funding.
The six projects selected for the 2024 pilot and their external partners are outlined here.
In the RIA, each team includes researchers at different levels, including HDRs (Higher Degree by Research), and has at least one member from beyond FASS.
Each team is led by a non-professorial researcher, a requirement that reflects the RIA’s focus on building early to mid-career researcher leadership skills through real-world application.
The program is delivered in four phases with each phase focusing on different aspects of the planning, execution and leadership of multidisciplinary collaboration.
The first phase brought the individual project teams together to discuss shared vision, collective strengths and capacity given the time and resources available.
The aim was to build a strong collaborative foundation for each project in a setting that one team described in feedback as ‘non-judgemental and inclusive’.
The second phase, delivered at the Sydney Knowledge Hub, was built around a ‘theory of change’ methodology which begins by imagining impact and then works backwards to devise the steps to achieve it.
Each team articulated their vision for impact and broadly scoping opportunities for knowledge translation. They then completed a Research Impact Canvas (a visualisation and planning tool) and presented the results to the wider group.
The exercise helped sharpen focus on the key elements that need to be considered when developing and validating the impact and translation potential of research ideas/projects.
I liked the model for planning the project. It was a great tool for getting us all thinking and focused on the same outcomes
The third phase involved devising a sequenced Project Plan and Team Collaboration Charter to delegate tasks and ensure timely completion in budget.
Teams identified activities to reach specific and diverse audiences while serving the needs of their external partners, identified at the outset.
These included conventional outcomes like external grant applications and white papers, but also podcasts and audio documentaries and in one case a puppet show to visualise absences in funded health services.
The documents produced in phase three then passed through a threshold assessment to ensure feasibility, strategic use of funding, and identify unforeseen impediments or opportunities before project funds and project management support were approved.
The threshold assessment committee included internal and external representatives, who provided additional expert feedback on the projects and their capacity-building dimensions.
Threshold assessment committee member Associate Dean Education Professor Fiona Martin, drew attention to the need for each team to articulate a HDR mentoring strategy, noting the vital role they play across all six projects.
The RIA has also created space for early career researchers to receive project-based mentoring and advice.
Professor Elizabeth Hill (Political Economy) has been providing guidance to Luara Ferracioli (Humanities) and her team in the development of policy proposals grounded in non-ideal theory.
Luara’s team is focussed on expanding Australian debates on the provision of childcare to include social justice frameworks and will be organising a public stakeholder workshop in collaboration with the Sydney Policy Lab.
The RIA has now entered Phase 4, all six teams have been assigned project officers to assist them organize and deliver their project activities across the remainder of 2024.
The three people SSSHARC recruited to these roles – Emily Herdman, Leila Frijat and Natalie Hargrave - have diverse skill sets. This means the RIA is also increasing professional capacity through peer-to-peer skill-sharing as well as specialist training in media, project management and cultural competency.
This investment in the development of non-academic staff reflects SSSHARC’s commitment to including professional staff members as strategic contributors to research impact and design.
I have really valued the focus that this program has given us as a newly formed team. It has helped immensely to have the input and support of the SSSHARC team to give us confidence and advice in moving our ideas into a plan and into action.
The RIA will run again in 2025, stay tuned for details of an information session and a formal call for participant teams.