Collaborative REF2021 impact case studies across UoAs and HEIs

According to the Adam Smith Institute the “buy one, get one free” deal was pioneered by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1700s.  Despite being hundreds of years old, this concept is alive and well – and not only in supermarkets. In the past two REF exercises, researchers could get two (or more) impact case studies from one piece of work. How? Well, let’s check the guidance:

“104.c. Where a submitted impact is underpinned by collaborative research, each
submitting unit whose research made a distinct and material contribution to the
impact may submit that impact”
REF2021 Guidance on Submissions

Ok, excuse my silly introduction. This isn’t a secret voucher code to multiply your impact case studies. It’s a neat measure in REF to assess impact coming from  collaborative research. We don’t know whether this will still be a feature of REF2029 but nothing has been said otherwise so it would be reasonable to assume no change. Besides, if REF scrapped this provision then collaborations would succumb to in-fighting out over impact honours. All the work that’s been done to promote and enable collaborative/interdisciplinary research would be undone at a stroke. Well, there’d be misaligned incentives at the least. So this facility will probably remain.

Anyway, this is all leading up to another list of REF2021 impact case studies. Here we have pairs of case studies that are shared across UoAs or HEIs (yes! in the same way, if research from two or more HEIs has underpinned some impact, both HEIs can submit the same impact separately). I often get asked by authors, managers, REF leads, etc if I have examples of how shared these case studies have been handled. Well, here are those examples.

I found them by looking for duplicated impact case study titles. Nothing clever. There are probably other shared case studies with different titles but these are obviously much harder to find so I don’t have any in my list.

First we have “impact case studies across UoAs” – these are probably of widest interest and there are 33 pairs.

Further down we have “impact case studies across HEIs”. There are only six pairs of these – and two of them are in the cross-UoA list too. Either there are really fewer examples or it’s less likely that a title will be duplicated across HEIs.

I’ve organised this in a way that makes sense to me – hopefully it makes sense to others too… You get the title, UoAs and HEIs. Clicking a dropdown reveals links to each of the joint case studies with an indication of score.

1. Impact case studies across UoAs

A new class of anti-infective drugs from DNA Minor Groove Binders
(UoAs 3 & 8, University of Strathclyde)

Abolishing Employment Tribunal Fees
(UoAs 16 & 18, University of Oxford)

Accelerating pharmaceutical manufacturing development using automated self-optimisation platforms
(UoAs 8 & 12, University of Leeds)

Active learning during primary school physical education in the West Midlands
(UoAs 23 & 24, Newman University)

Creating change by raising the awareness and understanding of the emotional needs of children in school as explained by attachment theory
(UoAs 20 & 23, University of Chester)

Decolonising the University Across Disciplines
(UoAs 19 & 34, School of Oriental and African Studies)

Electrical Impedance Tomography
(UoAs 3 & 11, Middlesex University)

Harnessing the draw of professional sports clubs to deliver improvements in health and wellbeing among at-risk groups
(UoAs 2 & 20, University of Glasgow)

HIV policy formulation and prevention: driving the decision for and implementation of publicly-funded pre-exposure prophylaxis in Scotland
(UoAs 2 & 20, University of Glasgow)

Horizon Proteins: Circular economy innovation from whisky by-product to fish feedstock
(UoAs 8 & 12, Heriot-Watt University)

How our electrical stimulation devices have improved long-term medical conditions
(UoAs 3 & 12, Bournemouth University)

Implementing high quality stratified care for low back pain
(UoAs 2 & 3, University of Keele)

Improved diagnosis and treatment of patients with lymphoma globally using Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
(UoAs 1 & 12, King's College London)

Improving COVID-19 symptom identification and infection spread in the UK with research-based App technology
(UoAs 1 & 3, King's College London)

Integrating Ethics into Policy and Practice for Issues on the Margins of Life
(UoAs 18 & 30, University of Keele)

Leeds Virtual Microscope: A New Tool for Pathologists Diagnosing Cancer
(UoAs 1 & 11, University of Leeds)

Managing Climate Risk and the Cost of Capital in Climate-Vulnerable Countries
(UoAs 17 & 22, School of Oriental and African Studies)

PARP inhibitors as a therapeutic to treat BRCA-defective cancers
(UoAs 1 & 5, University of Sheffield)

Pheromone Traps: providing new Tools across Europe for the Prevention of Spread of Pine Wood Nematode, an Invasive Disease of Pine Forests
(UoAs 6 & 8, University of Greenwich)

Pretext Drama: Creating ‘Third Spaces’ for Understanding
(UoAs 23 & 33, University of Chester)

Protecting pollinators: Influencing policy and retail to reduce and remove harmful pesticides
(UoAs 5 & 8, University of Sussex)

Raising the international quality of osteoarthritis management in primary care
(UoAs 2 & 3, University of Keele)

Raising the Minimum Wage in Greece
(UoAs 17 & 25, Brunel & LSE)

RECOVERY Trial: Global adoption of effective COVID-19 treatments to save lives
(UoAs 1 & 2, University of Oxford)

Reducing childhood unintentional injuries in the home
(UoAs 2 & 3, University of Nottingham)

Revitalising place through interdisciplinary art practice at a time of environmental change
(UoAs 27 & 32, Sheffield Hallam & Leeds)

Revolutionising the understanding of childhood food allergy to halt the epidemic
(UoAs 1 & 3, King's College London)

Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum
(UoAs 4 & 31, Newman University)

Shaping the future of robotic surgical systems for rectal cancer
(UoAs 1 & 2, University of Leeds)

Specialist cancer services improve outcomes for Teenagers and Young Adults with cancer
(UoAs 1 & 3, University of Leeds)

Supporting the development of a safer, more robust financial system for the Eurozone (Sovereign Bond Backed Securities)
(UoAs 16 & 17, London School of Economics and Political Science)

The 21st Century Public Servant: Changing the Public Service Workforce
(UoAs 19 & 20, University of Birmingham)

The Care and Management of Gout in Primary Care
(UoAs 2 & 3, University of Keele)

Transforming the development and manufacture of medicine through continuous processing and advanced manufacturing technology research
(UoAs 3 & 12, University of Strathclyde)

2. Impact case studies across HEIs

‘Taking Care’: Enhancing UK nursing training using mixed-methods drama research to reconceptualise, teach and promote embodied ‘care’ in clinical interactions
(UoAs 33 Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies, Kingston & Guildhall)

Consuming Prehistory
(UoA15 Archaeology, Cardiff & York)

Raising the Minimum Wage in Greece
(UoAs 17 & 25, Brunel & LSE)

Revitalising place through interdisciplinary art practice at a time of environmental change
(UoAs 27 & 32, Sheffield Hallam & Leeds)

Shaping Global Accounting Standards
(UoA17 Business and Management Studies, Bristol/LSE)

Structural and Regulatory Change in the Irish Credit Union Sector
(UoA17 Business and Management Studies, QUB/St Andrews)

That’s all for now. I hope this is useful. Please let me know if any of this is wrong, doesn’t work or you have other examples to add.