Impact of Science 2019

Understanding causalities, correlations and pre-conditions for the different dimensions of societal impact of science.

This conference has already taken place. Please find the photos of the conference here. Are you interested in the outcomes of the event? As an AESIS+ member you have access to the materials of all our events. Read more about the AESIS+ membership here.

Many Science System Strategists stand on the verge of some steady but fascinating developments, influenced by changing regional, national and international contexts. The newly introduced Horizon Europe R&D Program stands for the aim of moving Europe forward on its way to becoming a worldwide innovation leader, by trying to incentivise academic-industry cooperation. Germany is developing the new High-Tech Strategy, aiming to translate ideas quickly into innovative products and services. In the UK practitioners are awaiting how the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) will take root, especially in relation to REF. In Australia recent political changes finally opened up the way for the first Engagement and Impact assessment, which took place in November of last year, and the USA is in full progress to develop several science impact research systems and institutions.

At the same time many countries have the aim to broadening the view from impact to the economy to societal impact at large. This fosters discussions on key performance indicators, how we can measure the impact on research and whether to focus on evaluation of quantifiable output or the hardly measureable impact. Finally, the expanding influence of open-access science publishing movements, such as Plan S, fuel discussions about the effects on research excellence and impact.

The AESIS Network has successfully organised the annual conference ‘Impact of Science’ six times, bringing together experts such as R&D evaluators, university managers, research councils, policy makers, funders, and other stakeholders of impact. The goal is sharing, evaluating and discussing best practices around the world on:

• Policy strategies for societal impact;
• Creating (long-term) alliances between stakeholders;
• Regional, national and international instruments for evaluating and achieving impact;
• Current issues on i.e. public engagement, evidence-based policy, interdisciplinary approaches and harmonising definitions and assumptions.

In its approaches the AESIS Network is convinced that societal impact:

• can only be robust based on a well-balanced insight on how the impact of science on society can be measured;
• should investigate the impact of the humanities, the social sciences and the hard sciences in one comparable approach for accountability;
• should include both the societal impact of scientific research and university education;
• The political momentum and current research eco-system in Germany are an excellent and indeed inspirational context to foster the worldwide debates on impact. At the same time, several international perspectives can offer valuable and critical evaluations to the current progress and obstacles in Germany. Thus, the AESIS Network and its partners are excited to organise the ’Impact of Science 2019’ conference in Berlin.