Research impact is the next big thing to hit the research ecosystem. While using rigorous research methods and disseminating findings through academic publications are still important, research impact is becoming a key measure of research success.
Our HMRI Research Impact team is passionate about building impact and translation literacy and capability amongst researchers, pivoting the research ecosystem to value and incentivise impactful research, and advancing the science of impact assessment.
The research impact value proposition
More than ever before, funders of health and medical research and the community want to understand the benefits of research and how it improves the health and wellbeing of our community.
HMRI’s team of leading research impact practitioners are here to help researchers and research teams optimise, evidence, assess, and report on the impact from their varying research.
How can we help you?
If you are interested in doing more impactful research and being better placed to translate your research to policy, practice and commercialisation, the HMRI Research Impact team can support.
We offer:
- One-on-one coaching and facilitation
- Capacity building workshops
- Research impact consultancies
- Resources
All our services are customised to meet your research needs. We can also support your research team to build the foundational knowledge and skills essential for building a leading impact culture.
What benefits do you get?
The HMRI Research Impact Team works with researchers, research groups and programs, policymakers, and funders to achieve:
- efficiency in how we allocate funding and undertake research
- broader engagement of other key stakeholders
- more effective translation into policy, practice and products
- improved preventative health and patient care
- increased health and wellbeing of our communities
Our Services
We can help at every stage of impact on the research journey from planning for impact upfront all the way through to assessing and reporting on your impact at the end of your research project.
Choose how you want to use our services taking into consideration your capacity, resources and interest.
Are you intending to submit a grant proposal that requires a personal impact statement?
Does your grant proposal require a program logic model to map the pathway to impact?
We can help with:
- Workshop
- One-on-one coaching
Are you tired of leaving the impact of your research purely to chance?
Would you be interested in optimising your chance of impact by planning for translation & impact upfront?
We can help with:
- Workshops
- One-on-one coaching
- Consultancy
Need help translating your research to the next users, policymakers, clinicians, the general public?
Have you got an elevator pitch or Twitter handle for your project? How confident are you to write a press release or policy brief?
We can help with:
- Workshops
What do you need to be able to report your impact to funders, key stakeholders, the public?
How and where are you storing your impact evidence and data?
We can help with:
- Workshops
Are you interested in doing a comprehensive impact assessment of your research project/program?
Are you ready to direct your own FAIT?
We can help with:
- Customised support
- Consultancy
- Self-paced learning modules
Do you or your team really understand what research impact means – why it's important, the terminology, the methods?
We can help with:
- Workshops
- Resources
Resources
The Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational health research (FAIT) is a novel framework designed by HMRI's Research Impact team.
It was specifically developed to encourage research translation and measure and report on research impact in a multi-dimensional way.
The following publications by members of the Research Impact team are useful for potential FAIT users who require more information about the development of FAIT, the different methods used in FAIT and how it is being applied in the real world.
Seminal FAIT paper – everything you need to know about the Framework
An Approach to Measuring and Encouraging Research Translation and Research Impact
Scoping literature review of the objectives for impact assessment
Measuring research impact in Australia’s medical research institutes: a scoping literature review of the objectives for and an assessment of the capabilities of research impact assessment frameworks
Attitudes towards research impact assessment frameworks
Measuring research impact in medical research institutes: a qualitative study of the attitudes and opinions of Australian medical research institutes towards research impact assessment frameworks.
Protocol for the implementation of FAIT to five Indigenous primary health research projects
Encouraging translation and assessing impact of the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement: rationale and protocol for a research impact assessment.
Protocol for the implementation of FAIT to a childhood obesity prevention program
Measurement of the translation and impact from a childhood obesity trial programme: rationale and protocol for a research impact assessment.
Protocol for the implementation of FAIT to streams of stroke rehabilitation research
Implementing a protocol for a research impact assessment of the Centre for Research Excellence in Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery
Researcher opinions of research translation – it’s scope, importance, responsibility and skills and knowledge required
This publication presents results from a mixed-methods study to explore the opinions of research translation held by researchers working in a Centre of Research Excellence in Australia.
Strengthening and measuring research impact in global health: lessons from applying the FAIT framework
This paper presents the results from applying FAIT to two public health projects in low to middle income countries and the learnings and limitations of applying FAIT retrospectively.
The following resources are available for those interested in applying FAIT. Both are designed to be applied upfront, at the planning stages of a project.
The Program Logic Template is designed to assist users to map out the intended pathway to impact. It includes a step-by-step process for developing a program logic model for a research project from demand all the way through aims, activities, outputs, potential users and impacts.
Click here to download the Program Logic template
The Research Translation Planning Template is designed to assist users to develop a research translation plan. This activity builds on the development of the program logic model by expanding on the types of translational activities that will be required to achieve the intended impacts. It also helps to identify the skills and resources required to implement the research translation aspects upfront
Click here to download the Research Translation Planning template
This section contains pdf versions of powerpoint slides from a selection of poster and presentations about FAIT and Research Impact Assessment at a range of conferences:
- NHMRC Research Translation Symposium 2015
- AAMRI Conference 2016
- NHMRC Research Translation Symposium 2016
- Primary Health Care Conference 2017
- Measuring Research Outcomes Conference 2017
- Primary Healthcare Conference 2018
- Stroke 2018/Smart Strokes Australia Conference 2018
- NHMRC Research Translation Symposium 2018 - presentation 1
- NHMRC Research Translation Symposium 2018 - presentation 2
- The Lowitja Institute International Health and Wellbeing Conference 2019
This section provides links to resources on research impact assessment and research translation that could potentially be useful to projects that are implementing FAIT including two NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence.
Research Impact
Dr Shanthi Ramanathan
Melanie Rao
Dr Priscilla Viana Da Silva
Dr Kurtis Budden
