Importance of Impact: 'The next step'

Seminar "Publish for Impact"

Event date: 27 October 2016
Location: Science Centre Delft
Host: TU Delft Research Support, Erasmus University en Universiteit Leiden (LDE)

In the last 15 years, research assessment landscapes are changing. There is an increasing focus on the role of science in society (“societal impact”), more specifically on the socio-economic and cultural benefits/effects that scientific research results have on society at large. The new Standard Evaluation Protocol (SEP2015-2021) reflects those changes and requires evaluation methods that do greater justice to the variety of scientific and societal outputs and activities of researchers. But who are the stakeholders (users of research) and how are their interactions with science producers? And if we know the users, how can we find evidence or traces of the use of science? Finally, how do evaluators, scientists and stakeholders alike validate and value the societal the impact beyond the scientific realm. In the presentation, the research assessment policies are discussed, followed by examples of methods how to trace societal use of science, and finally a reflection on balancing and contextualization these evaluation systems against scientist behavior. Only then we will be able to take the next step…

Ingeborg restarted her research career in the field of science and technology studies, focusing on research evaluation, research policy and on the societal use of research. She is specifically interested in measuring interactions with social, cultural and economic stakeholders, for all science disciplines. She has specific experience with interactive processes to prioritize and evaluate (ex ante and ex post) RTD. The working group takes a combined quantitative and qualitative approach investigating researcher and stakeholder visions and values as well as data-oriented analyses (e.g. exploring altmetrics, and coupling bibliometrics to other data). In addition to collaborating in a number of European projects, she supervises BA and MSC students, and is managing the CWTS Institutional Projects Board. Ingeborg has a PhD in biomedicine from the University of Leiden, and worked subsequently in a biotech company (Celltech), in health research policy (Dutch Health Council/Gezondheidsraad), and in European science innovation and technology policy evaluation (Technopolis Group) before returning to academia.