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Research impact

Our research has real impact on the world

As a research-intensive university, creating real-world impact across communities, industries, and global challenges is central to our mission as University of Social Purpose.

What is Research Impact?

Research impact is defined as: “an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.” (Research England, REF) In practice, this means our research is:

  • Shaping government policy and professional practice
  • Driving innovation through new technologies and commercial products
  • Enriching public understanding and cultural life
  • Improving health outcomes and environmental sustainability.
How we support impact

We empower researchers at every career stage to maximise the reach and relevance of their work. Our support includes:

  • Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
  • Tailored training and workshops via our Researcher Development Programme
  • Dedicated support and expert guidance from our knowledge exchange and impact team, and academic Impact Leads embedded in every department.
Impact in the Research Excellence Framework (REF)

Impact is a core element of the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF), which evaluates the quality and significance of university research. Find out more about our REF submissions and performance and read our 54 impact case studies from REF2021, showcasing how our research is making a difference.

Impact stories

From advancing climate and biodiversity solutions to pioneering artificial intelligence, our researchers are tackling urgent global issues. We’re shaping the future of culture and the creative industries, improving health and wellbeing, and championing social justice and equality. Explore our latest impact stories below. 

Treating Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Each week in the UK, two families receive devastating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) diagnosis; there are currently around 2,500 patients in the UK and 300,000 patients worldwide with the disease.

Changing perceptions of wildfire

Fire has shaped our Earth for over 400 million years. The increasing impact and scale of wildfire is of major concern even in the United Kingdom where surprisingly between 2009 and 2016 there were over 260,000 wildfire incidents in England alone.

Advancing polar geopolitics

The Polar Regions are being transformed by sea ice melting and strategic competition involving China, Russia and the United States. Research has been used to improve policy, understanding and education in polar geopolitics.

Access to elite professions

Many elite professions are highly exclusive according to socio-economic background. Exclusion from the elite professions is cause and effect of wider social inequalities across the UK and is related to low rates of upward social mobility.

Dada’s women

The European Dada movement of the early 20th century was long regarded as a male preserve in which women were relegated to footnotes or mentioned only as the wives, girlfriends, or sisters of Dada men.

Live like a Stoic

Research on the philosophy of Stoicism explores the ways guidance from ancient texts can have a positive impact on our psychological wellbeing.

Drug-resistant epilepsy

It's the most common neurological disease after migraine but drug treatments fail in around 30% of cases. Our research into ketogenic diets has led to a new treatment.

Understanding Brexit

How using Critical Management Studies analysis has helped to influence key factors and improve public understanding about Brexit.

Protecting civilians in conflict

Research on the measurement of war deaths has influenced the Iraq Inquiry and stimulated debate which led to policy change in the UK.

Quality of life

Research illustrates the importance of protecting and improving quality of life, as well as quality of health, for patients with chronic health conditions.

Improving prison outcomes

Working with prisoners and tackling reoffending is one of the biggest challenges our society faces. Sport and physical activity have a unique and important role to play in responding to this challenge.

Apps for eyes

Professor Walker’s research has led to the development of freely available apps that aid reading in people with Macular Degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people aged over 60.

Revitalising English Literature

The 2014 curriculum reforms of GCSE and A level English Literature created a need for new subject knowledge and new understanding of the discipline itself.

Developing the HUB

Selecting new materials and manufacturing technologies represents a major challenge to businesses with implications that affect the configuration of the composite materials supply chain.

Remembering the Victorians

How can research on the 19th-century novel and its creation of a sense of local belonging in a global world enrich the practices of museums, archives, and heritage sites associated with authors?

Staging difficult pasts

Dr Lease’s research on staging difficult pasts has transformed approaches to staging and curation in major museums in Argentina and Poland and influenced cross-sector collaborations.

Better social responsibility

Social responsibility in small and medium sized enterprises (95% of businesses) is improved through tools for business networks and policy guidance for the UK Government and the International Labour Organisation.

Legacies of partition

Britain today is home to over three million people of South Asian heritage, and almost all their families were affected in some way by India’s Partition in 1947.

Supporting effective ministry

Investigating how to improve clergy morale, effective ministry and parishioner participation in the most deprived areas of Sheffield Diocese.

Researching deep-sea processes

Research into deep-water marine processes has helped in determining boundaries of sea frontiers and informed policymakers and industry.

Enhancing Global Literacy

Poor literacy is a pressing global challenge even in high-income countries. Research within the Royal Holloway Department of Psychology is driving transformative changes in how we teach children to read. 

Transforming curatorial practices

Working with historians has helped museums to develop new content and build interactive visitor experiences to draw in visitors and generate income.

Improving crop seed quality

High-quality seed that delivers enhanced seedling performance crucial for crop resilience to global challenges, including climate change, and for future food security.

Nutritional enhancement of crops

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) remains a global health problem. An estimated 250,000-500,000 children in developing countries become blind each year, due to VAD, and more than half of them die within a year.

Managing chronic pain

Low back pain is a leading global cause of disability with dramatic consequences for productivity and the economy.

Improving child protection policies

The number of children taken into care has been increasing each year since 2008, from around 60,000 children to over 78,000 in March 2019.

Documenting information leakages

There was a long-held suspicion among finance practitioners and specialised journalists that information leakages ahead of macroeconomic announcements were common and generated informed trading.

Understanding the Holocaust

The Holocaust Research Institute is the leading British research institute on the Holocaust and one of the most prominent in Europe. Its expertise and research have influenced how the Holocaust is reassessed and remembered.

Representing Indigenous knowledge

Indigenous knowledge contributes to the sustainable management of lands, conserving biodiversity and reducing carbon emissions, yet it is marginalised from decision-making and policy arenas.

Enhancing lives through participatory arts

Research undertaken by Professor Helen Nicholson in Drama and Professor Rachel Beckles Willson in Music has supported new and inclusive forms of creative practice that is artistically inventive, context-sensitive, and sustainable.

Hidden symptom of MS

2.3 million people live with MS and half experience cognitive difficulties, often overlooked during physical assessments. A cognitive assessment tool was identified to increase the MS cognition skills of health care professionals.

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