Contributors
Julie Bayley
Dr Julie Bayley, BSc, MSc, PhD is Associate Professor & Director of Research Impact and Culture, Northeastern University London, UK and a Chartered Health Psychologist. She is the author of Creating Meaningful Impact: The Essential Guide to Developing an Impact-Literate Mindset.
Julie BayleyDavid Phipps
Dr David J. Phipps, PhD, MBA is the Assistant Vice-President, Research Strategy & Impact, Research & Innovation Services, York University, Canada and Network Director, Research Impact Canada.
Research Impact CanadaJo Edwards
Jo Edwards completed a DPhil in Renaissance Culture at the University of Sussex in 2005 and has been able to transfer the skills she gained – in research, in evidence gathering, comparison and analysis, and in conveying complex ideas in straightforward ways – throughout her professional roles. Her DPhil looked at 16th century travellers who went to America, and those who stayed behind but wanted to write about something new. Jo says ‘The experience instilled in me a love of finding out about new things, and in battling against traditional views, something which the research demonstrates can be very hard to do as you head into the unknown.’ This sense of challenging established norms has driven her career, through nearly a decade in strategy, policy, and planning roles in higher education to the launch of Lucidity Solutions in August 2014. Since then, Jo has worked with clients across the UK on research impact (training and REF case study development); strategy development and implementation; research, evaluation, and analysis; event management and facilitation; staff and stakeholder consultation; and research communications.
Lucidity Solutions LtdJim McLaughlin
Jim McLaughlin has over 25 years of experience in running groups, ranging from whole company strategic planning to group coaching. He has worked with groups from all walks of life and all professions (and none). He has worked with engineers, teachers, scientists, MPs, web developers, and many other professions. As one of the country’s most experienced facilitators, Jim creates spaces where deep and meaningful conversations can be had. Other times, he creates spaces and processes for complex problems to be worked on with simplicity and ease. Combining his facilitation practice with Directorships in manufacturing and in software, Jim is thus highly practical and outcomes-focused with a wide and deep level of practical business experience.
Meeting FacilitatorsSam Knowles
Sam Knowles is the Founder and Managing Director of storytelling consultancy Insight Agents. He has spent the past 30 years helping companies, brands, and third-sector organisations communicate with more impact.
Insight AgentsToby Blume
Toby Blume is the Director and Co-Founder of Social Engine and has over 25 years’ experience of leading not-for-profit organisations, working in local government and education. Toby combines his ability to interrogate data and evidence sources with his practitioner experience to understand how to translate evidence into practice, ensuring that the solutions are grounded in what is practical. Toby brings authority, experience and a vision for change focused squarely on improving lives and working practices.
Social EngineLaura Evans
Founder & Director of Nifty Fox Creative, Laura Evans-Hill is a trained social researcher with 10 years’ experience working in the Higher Education sector. An expert ‘people understander’, she works with clients to understand their audience, their stories and their goals in minute detail. Laura is a visual storytelling trainer to help leaders communicate better, and a lecturer for storytelling for research impact for universities across the globe.
Nifty Fox CreativeHilary Bradbury
Dr Hilary Bradbury is the founder and principal at AR+ Foundation. She is a scholar-practitioner focused on the human and organizational dimensions of creating healthy communities.
AR+ FoundationUrsula Kelly
Ursula Kelly is founding Director of Viewforth Consultancy Ltd, a specialist consultancy focussed on higher education economic impact and policy, established in 2011. With over 30 years’ experience of working in and with higher education institutions in the UK and internationally, Ursula has led many high profile research and consultancy projects relating to tertiary education policy, higher education in the economy and information resources management and governance. From 2007-2011 she was joint coordinator of an extensive Economic and Social Research Council and Higher Education Funding Councils’ programme on the Impact of Higher Education institutions on regional economies, working with leading UK and international academic economists and researchers including Professor Peter McGregor, Professor Kim Swales (Strathclyde) and Professor Walter McMahon (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
Viewforth Consulting LtdSaskia Gent
Saskia Gent is the Founder and Director of Insights for Impact, a consultancy offering research impact support to universities in the UK and overseas. Inspired by research, Saskia’s deep knowledge of impact and the impact agenda help researchers share their work with the world beyond academia. Saskia launched Insights for Impact after more than a decade working with universities in the UK, Europe, and in the developing world. The consultancy helps institutions, researchers, and projects optimise understanding of, and strategies for, research impact. Saskia provides strategic support and training, as well as mentoring and coaching. In the years leading up to REF 2021, Saskia worked with more than 30 institutions, coaching, facilitating, and training hundreds of researchers to deliver their best possible impact case study submissions.
Insights for ImpactChris Brown
Professor Chris Brown is Professor of Education at University of Southampton. His primary interest is to drive forward the notion of Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) as a means to promote collaborative learning for teachers, improving both teaching practice and student outcomes across the school system. He is co-editor of Emerald’s Professional Learning Networks book series, and is co-founder and co-convener of the International congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement’s Professional Learning Networks research network. His long-standing interest in how research evidence can and should (but often doesn’t) aid the development of education policy and practice has informed the editor/authorship of five books on the subject, scores of papers, and keynote speeches at conferences across the world.
Professor Chris BrownMukta Das
Dr Mukta Das is the Research Impact Manager and a Research Associate, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She is highly experienced in developing strategy, monitoring and evaluation, research, writing, fundraising and project management.
Richard Huysmans
Dr Richard Huysmans is a research strategist with a 70% grant success rate and a 100% success rate for establishing research centres and institutes. His clients include the Department of Health and Human Services, University of Queensland, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne and Monash University.
Lesley Wye
Centre for Academic Primary Care Bristol, UK.
