Thanks for attending the workshop. In lieu of a handout that will get lost on your desk (or immediately recycled) I have put notes and links to resources on this page.
Impact: the difference your research makes
Hopefully this word no longer makes you want to retch. Every one of you does research and scholarship because you think it will make a difference to someone. The “someone” varies but you want to make some kind of a difference.
“Impact” is the difference you make. No more. No less.
You have a clear idea of who you want your scholarship to have an impact on:
- students
- other academics in your field
- other academics in related fields
- specific people out there in the world
- practitioners
- activists
- policy makers
- people who like reading Victorian literature
- mothers
- young women
- young men
- whoever
You don’t need to address all of these audiences. Nor do they have to be big audiences. Or audiences someone else thinks are important.
You need to be clear about which audiences your research will make a difference to. Be specific.
“Why is your research question important?” is a serious question. No one doubts that it is, but they need to know the specifics of why this particular research is important and for whom it is important. Knowing the audience you want to make a difference to helps you clarify this.
Create knowledge = do research/scholarship
This is the part you feel really comfortable with. You know what you need and want to do to create knowledge. You have questions. You have methodologies (even if those are “Read books. Think big thoughts.”).
Make a plan that is layered:
- research you can do alone with little funding
- research that requires collaboration (with other academics or with non-academic partners)
- research that requires funding for travel, surveys or whatever
- research you want to make happen even if you don’t do most of it yourself (e.g. potential MA thesis projects)
Make time to do research and scholarship. Make it a priority.
You don’t have to accomplish everything you imagine or plan. There are advantages to thinking big, though.
Mobilize knowledge: getting knowledge to make the difference
The people you want your research to make a difference to will not magically find the knowledge you create.
You need a plan. A plan suited to the audience(s) you want to have an impact on.
How does your research and scholarship influence your teaching? How could it influence the teaching of other people in your field?
How do people in your field find out about new research? What are the most respected venues for publication? Which specific groups within your field do you most want to know about your research findings?
For each audience you care about consider the following:
- What part of your research is most important to them?
- How do they learn? What ways of receiving information do they value most highly?
- How can you reach the most people in this group?
- Is there a way to reach a smaller group who will then tell more people about your research?
For academic audiences, you can start by thinking about yourself. How do you find new journal articles or books? How do you decide which of those will get the small amount of time you have for reading? How do you find new material
Resources
You will need resources to do this stuff. Some of it can be done on a shoestring, and that’s good when a shoestring is all you have.
However, try to imagine what you could do if you have $20k or $60k or $100k (or if you are feeling really ambitious $2 million over 7 years).
Resources aren’t just dollars, though sometimes you need dollars to get other resources:
- people
- time
- sources/data (including travel to get to an archive, for example)
- technology (from pens and face to face meetings to computers and software)
Now you are ready to think about funding applications
Your objectives —the difference you think this will make — need to align with that of the funder.
SSHRC’s mandate is to fund academic research that will make a significant contribution to knowledge. Most of SSHRC’s programs are responsive to researchers’ decisions about what is important. You are adjudicated by your peers. SSHRC just provides the framework and administers the process.
More details on applying to SSHRC
If the main difference you want to make is to non-academic audiences — practioners, policy, or specific groups whose lives you want to improve — there may be foundations or government funds available that are not earmarked for research per se. Getting funding for an innovative program that serves that audience may be possible, though one of your non-academic partners may need to take the lead.
A research component to such a project may strengthen a program funding application. If you go this way, make sure the Research Office is involved so that that contract terms allow you to write academic articles based on the work you do (IP is tricky; the university has lawyers that know the tricky bits).
There is no easy money. If your objectives fit with a funder’s objective you are in with a good chance.