Our expert-led, live and interactive online workshop series is for researchers and research impact support or knowledge exchange professionals who want to develop a good understanding of how to plan for and assess the impact of research or knowledge mobilisation.

  • Researcher? Understand impact and be able to track the impact of your own work.

  • In an impact support role? Get the resources, techniques and processes to help people to be impactful and track the impact of their research.

  • Knowledge mobilisation professional in the public or NGO sector? Demonstrate the effectiveness of your work.

The Matter of Focus Research Impact School is here to help you gain the knowledge, tools and techniques to develop powerful stories of impact.

Across two modules, you will:

  • Improve your research impact literacy.

  • Develop an impact mindset.

  • Build a pathway to impact.

  • Plan a meaningful and manageable assessment approach to enable you to tell a robust impact story.

  • Get to know a community of peers from across the UK and often beyond to draw on for support, advice and inspiration.

Our 4-minute explainer video will give you an overview of the Matter of Focus approach to understanding and tracking research impact.

Led by internationally renowned impact expert, Dr Sarah Morton

The Matter of Focus Research Impact School is led by our co-director, Dr Sarah Morton, who has an international reputation as a leader in the fields of knowledge exchange and research impact.

Sarah developed a pioneering approach to understanding research impact based on contribution analysis. This has been applied in seven independent impact assessments, to help people with REF impact case studies, and is the basis for our approach and software here at Matter of Focus.

Dr Sarah Morton

Director

Learn more about Sarah

About the Research Impact School modules

Sarah has designed the online workshop series across two modules to give you the expert knowledge and tools you need to tell a more powerful impact story. One that can change minds, shift perceptions and possibly even inspire a policy rethink.

The modules are designed to be taken together in series, but can be booked individually.

Module 1 (runs Oct–Nov 2024)

Four engaging and practical online workshops, covering:

  • What is research impact?

  • Building your vision for impact

  • Stakeholder mapping and context analysis

  • Targeted approaches to knowledge mobilisation

  • Developing pathways to impact

You will learn and gain:

  • A wider understanding of the challenges around tracking the impact of research on communities, policy, practice or the public.

  • Practical resources.

  • A plan for taking the work forward.

Additional benefits for researchers and knowledge mobilisation professionals
  • Gain clarity about the potential impact of your work and a vision for this impact.
  • Understand of a variety of knowledge mobilisation techniques and which ones are most relevant to your work.
  • Undertake a stakeholder analysis and identify who is important to your impact.
  • Embark on developing a pathway to impact to help with planning, resource identification and assessing impact.

Additional benefits for impact officers and those in support roles
  • Know how to support others to identify their main contribution to society or the economy.
  • Have tools and approaches to help researchers identify stakeholders and analyse who is most important to their work.
  • Have a better understanding of the range of knowledge mobilisation approaches, and how to combine these into effective strategies for impact.
  • Understand how to construct pathways to impact and to support others to do this to help with planning, effectiveness and impact assessment.

Having completed Module 1, you will be able to:

  • Plan an impact strategy that draws on best practice.

  • Draw on a community of peers for support and advice.

  • Progress to building a framework for assessing your own impact, in Module 2.

The content of this course should be essential learning for any researcher. It has changed the way I think about the research process, given me invaluable resources that I’ll draw upon in the future, and I’ve made some great connections.
Post-course feedback (annonymous)

Module 1 dates and fees

  • Workshop one: 22 October 2024, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT+1)

  • Workshop two: 29 October 2024, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT)

  • Workshop three: 5 November 2024, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT)

  • Workshop four: 12 November 2024, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT)

  • £599 +VAT per person

Secure your place!

Book one or both modules today – pay later
Book now

Module 2 (runs Jan–Feb 2025)

Four engaging and practical online workshops, covering:

  • Assessing impact – potential indicators (what works)

  • Identifying data (and gaps) to evidence impact

  • Designing data collection

  • Building your impact story

  • Sharing your impact story with different audiences, including REF and ARC impact case study requirements.

You will learn and gain:

  • How to create a measurable impact story with identified data and feedback.

  • Strategies for getting feedback that ensure an impact story is robust and credible.

  • Practical advice to help improve, build and refine an impact case study for different audiences.

  • Free access to OutNav our impact tracking software for the duration of the course plus 3 months afterwards.

  • A discounted rate for any ongoing OutNav subscription.

After completing Module 2, you will:

  • Have a better understanding of the challenges of research impact assessment.

  • Have applied thinking to a specific project and have the ability to apply this to other projects and case studies.

  • Have practical approaches to collecting data and evidence of impact.

  • Understand of how a pathway to impact can help evidence and narrate an impact case study

  • Know what to do next to create a compelling impact story

  • Have started tracking impact in OutNav and be able to download an emerging impact story or subscribe to continue using this tracking tool. Discover the benefits of OutNav.

Module 2 dates and fees

  • Workshop one – 21 January 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT)

  • Workshop two – 28 January 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT)

  • Workshop three – 4 February 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT)

  • Co-working session – 11 February 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT)

  • Workshop four – 18 February 2025, 15:00 – 16:30 (GMT)

  • £599 +VAT per person (£499 +VAT when booked with Module 1)

Purple sticker promotes £100 off when you book Module 1 and 2 together.

Secure your place!

Book one or both modules today – pay later
Book now

Feedback from previous participants

The power of our work with Matter of Focus and outcome mapping is that it clarifies our key outputs and ways of working. Our staff can see how and where their activities fit in. We now have a clear narrative about impact and the difference we’ve made as a consequence of the investment of public money.
Dr Jane Cloke
Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast Programme Manager
Your work has inspired me in my efforts to understand how the work we’ve done with deprescribing.org has made a difference in improving medication-related care and outcomes for patients. For those looking for approaches to measuring impact, I highly recommend the Matter of Focus Research Impact School and using OutNav to track outcomes.
Dr Barbara Farrell
Bruyère Research Institute, Canada
Having OutNav to map all of it one place is really helpful because in our organisation different people do different parts of the work, and until now there hasn’t been any co-ordination.
Anonymous feedback
This is a very comprehensive approach. You can focus and work on certain small pieces, knowing that all the mass of things still to do is being held for you in OutNav.
Anonymous feedback

Frequently asked questions

Can I take just one module?

You can book for Module 1 and decide about Module 2 later, or book now for Module 1 +2 together and benefit from £100 off.

We strongly advise taking Module 1 before taking Module 2. However, if you already have a lot of expertise in research impact, have identified and are working with stakeholders, know what knowledge mobilisation techniques are most appropriate and have a pathway to impact, feel free to just join Module 2. If you’d like to have a chat before you decide, please do get in touch.

Do you offer this training in-house?

Yes, we offer an inhouse version of this training, please contact us if you’d like to explore this as an option.

What are the payment options?

Payment is not required to reserve your place. We will be in touch to confirm how you would like to pay – invoice and credit card payment options are available. Payment must be received before the start of the workshop series unless otherwise agreed in advance.

What is the cancellation policy?

If you cancel your booking up to 10 working days before the module starts you will not be charged for that module.

If you booked Module 1 and 2 together to take advantage of our £100 discount and go on to cancel Module 2 more than 10 days in advance of it starting, we will refund you for Module 2 minus the £100 discount.

If you do not attend all workshops of the module(s), you will still be charged in full. Recordings of workshops will be made, but you will get much more value from attending.

Is there a discount for group bookings?

We offer a 10% discount for more than one place from one institution. To benefit from a group discount, each person in the group must be booked onto the same module(s).

If you have 10 or more people who want to do this training, then the in-house option might be more suitable. Please get in touch to discuss this.

What happens if I can’t attend all the workshops?

We will send recordings of the workshops to participants. You might want to set aside time to catch up with any activities you miss before the next workshop

Do I need to prepare anything in advance of the school?

Researchers and knowledge mobilisation professionals
You will get most out of the school if you have an example you can work on for the duration. If you can have any information about this example to hand when you come to the workshops that would help you.

Impact officers and impact support roles
You will have a chance to work alongside a researcher to explore how you would use the approach in your work alongside discussions with other impact officers. You don’t need to prepare anything.

What platforms will I be working on?

We host our workshops in Zoom and will work on the online whiteboard software, Miro (no paid account required).

Module 2 includes an introduction to our software OutNav with a free 3-month subscription.