Pursue the impact you want
Pursue the impact you want
The other message I wanted to get across was ‘Forget REF’. I tried to count how many times the Vice Chanceller, Professor Peter Slee, and the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, Professor Andrew Slade, mentioned it in their introductions to the day. I lost count at about 50. I found that a little sad because no one comes into an academic career to get a great score in REF. They come into it because of a deep interest in the subject. I think we should also look at impact through that same lens – ‘What impact do I deeply care about that could be possible from the research I love?’ Whatever answer you come to – that is your definition of impact and I promise you – it will fit into the REF definition, if you choose to submit it.
So please let your choice of impact come from within, then go and talk to people who are from the groups that could benefit from that impact. Those conversations could well be the most interesting and inspiring conversations you may ever have.