Policy Forum Pod

It’s the buzzword that has universities around the world more obsessed than political junkies waiting to hear who has won a leadership spill. But unlike the average Australian Prime Minister, the quest for ‘impact’ among academics is likely to be with us for a long time. What exactly does it mean for researchers to ‘make a difference’? What tools can they employ to ensure their work doesn’t live only in obscure academic journals, unread and unused by policymakers? On this week’s podcast, hosts Sharon Bessell and Sara Bice chat to Mark Reed, a Professor of Social Innovation and an expert in research impact. Mark Reed is Professor of Social Innovation at Newcastle University in the UK, specialising in stakeholder participation in agri-food systems. He has published over 150 publications, including handbooks on research impact, and he’s been cited more than 12,000 times. He runs Fast Track Impact, a company that trains researchers to be more productive and achieve real-world impact. He presents the Fast Track Im