Research Impact for Development Workshops
The Challenge
For research to have a real-world development impact, a comprehensive approach to research uptake is needed in order to maximize the usefulness and use of research.
INASP has been commissioned by Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK to design and deliver a series of workshops for CSC scholars to explore skills and tools for increasing uptake - and ultimately impact - of the research they are producing.
The workshop series (using a combination of online and face to face approaches) drew on our expertise in participatory workshop design and adult learning approaches to enable researchers to learn from each other and strengthen opportunities for dialogue.
Our approach
Workshops have included:
Communicating to increase the impact of your research (Part 1 and Part 2)
November 2020 - January 2021
This two part online workshop was designed to support Masters and PhD CSC scholars from a range of Commonwealth countries to develop a better understanding of research impact and communicating to different audiences.
The workshop introduced principles and components of research impact and key considerations in developing a research communication plan to support intended impact. The workshop also looked at communication approaches for academic audiences, with a focus on research writing and journal publication and introduced scholars to frameworks and tools for communicating with non-academic audiences.
Virtual sessions were designed to be highly interactive and give Scholars ample opportunity to discuss ideas in breakout rooms throughout the session and also during Q&A
Research proposal and grant writing for development impact (Part 1 and Part 2)
February 2021
This two part online workshop was designed for Masters and PhD CSC scholars who intend to do policy or applied research in their home countries. The workshop introduced key concepts, frameworks and tools for understanding research and knowledge systems. Through interactive and participatory sessions, scholars were introduced to tools and approaches to support the design and implementation of research projects to maximise their usefulness and make the best use of research. Finally, the workshop focused on how to develop effective funding proposals which meet funders’ call specifications.
Communicating to increase the impact of your research
January 2020
This 1 day in-person workshop consisted of interactive sessions with a mix of presentations, guided group discussions and practical group work – with groups clustered by broad discipline (social science and natural/technical sciences).
Designed as an introductory training for scholars with an interest in communicating research to both academic and non-academic audiences, the workshop introduced the basic principles and components of research impact and key considerations in developing a research communication plan to support intended impact.
Sessions explored communication approaches for academic audiences, with a focus on research writing and journal publication and introduced frameworks and tools for communicating with non-academic audiences.
Building the impact of research for development
January 2020
This 1 day in-person advanced workshop (for scholars with existing basic knowledge of the principles of research impact) consisted of interactive sessions with a mix of presentations, guided group discussions and practical group work.
This workshop was designed for scholars aiming to do policy or applied research within their home countries. It introduced concepts, frameworks and tools for understanding research and knowledge systems, and doing research differently to maximise the usefulness and use of research. The workshop also included a session on how to develop effective funding proposals.
