Research Impact and the Early Career Researcher documents experiences and perspectives on the emerging concept of research impact from a range of disciplines and places them within an analytical and critical discursive framework. Combining personal reflections with research essays, it provides the reader with a multi-dimensional perspective on research impact and how it connects to the research lives and practice of early career researchers.
Research impact is playing an ever-increasing role in international research policy and government strategy. This book:
Explores the arrival of impact into the national research consciousness
Discusses how to build capacity and skills within research impact and how this might impact academic career progression in an international job market
Offers advice on balancing national expectations with institutional expectations on research in terms of funding and career progression
Offers suggested ways forward whilst actively challenging what constitutes research impact
Research Impact and the Early Career Researcher provides a much-needed research base for studies of research impact and the extent to which it has altered, changed, and influenced the research practice of early career academics. It is an essential guide for any new and early career researchers wishing to navigate the complex landscape in order to meaningfully contribute to the impact agenda.
Foreword |
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x | |
About this book |
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xvi | |
Acknowledgments |
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xviii | |
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xix | |
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PART I Research impact and me |
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1 | (58) |
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1 Uncertainty and confusion: The starting point of all expertise |
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3 | (21) |
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Reflection: Start small, think big: The hard path to success for the early career researcher |
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19 | (5) |
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2 Developing an academic identity: What's the time Mrs Wolf? |
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24 | (17) |
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Reflection: Reflexivity, doubt and social tensions in collaborative research as positive research impact |
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35 | (6) |
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3 Beyond the ivory tower: Impact and the arts practitioner |
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41 | (18) |
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Reflection: Thinking laterally: A public health practitioner's view of impact |
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53 | (6) |
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PART II Research impact and collaboration |
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59 | (76) |
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4 Knowledge exchange as impact |
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61 | (20) |
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Reflection: Communicating research to policymakers: The challenge of engagement and the knowledge broker role |
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75 | (6) |
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5 Experimenting with interdisciplinarity: Researcher development and the production of impact potentials |
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81 | (25) |
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Reflection: Research impacts of engineering for society, with society |
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101 | (5) |
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6 Connecting epistemologies and the early career researcher |
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106 | (29) |
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Reflection: Collaborative work of early career researchers: How the impact agenda transcends across contexts |
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127 | (8) |
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PART III Research impact systems and structures |
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135 | (73) |
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7 Propelled for take-off?: The case of early career social science researchers in South Africa |
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137 | (21) |
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Reflection: International impact: What is the problem? Can I solve it and will anyone benefit? |
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155 | (3) |
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8 Doctoral education and the impact gap: What we can learn from `Prof Docs' and why it matters for early career researchers |
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158 | (21) |
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Reflection: Knowledge transfer and the humanities early career researcher |
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174 | (5) |
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9 Situating early career researchers within a dynamic research and innovation ecosystem |
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179 | (29) |
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Reflection: Putting social responsibility at the heart of the institution: The research experience and career development of early career researchers |
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199 | (9) |
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Index |
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208 | |
Kieran Fenby-Hulse is an Assistant Professor in Research Capability and Development at Coventry University, UK.
Emma Heywood is a Lecturer and Researcher in Journalism, Politics and Communication at the University of Sheffield, UK.
Kate Walker is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science at Coventry University, UK.