Let’s Talk About Impact is a series that explores various aspects of making impact. We strive to make a change for the better, to make an impact, but what lies beyond this buzzword? Today we talk about “the impact paragraph” and how impact is not a one-size-fits-all.
Impact is a word which meaning is interpreted differently by different readers. At BMS, we developed the BMS Position Paper on Impact, to give people a shared vocabulary to talk about (their own) impact and reflect on this. In that paper, we discuss how impact has several dimensions: academic and societal impact, where different types of impact can be put under this societal impact umbrella.
However, that is not the definitive way to discuss impact. When applying for a grant, you will notice how different funders and funding schemes focus on different aspects of impact and how to make this explicit. Below you can find a quick overview of four funding schemes and how they talk about impact. A shared notion is that your work should make a difference (open up new horizons, advancement, new, consequences), so the “effect of”. Differences then lie in how a funding scheme makes this explicit and how you will be evaluated.
There are many more grants that focus on impact in different ways; the main takeaway here is to remember to align your own application to the goal of a funding scheme of a funder. How does your work fit in the bigger picture, how do you contribute to bigger challenges?
Funder | Funding scheme | How do they talk about impact |
|---|---|---|
NWO | In general | When NWO mentions societal impacts, they talk about “Cultural, economic, industrial, ecological or social changes that are entirely or in part the consequence of knowledge and expertise generated by research”. NWO focusses on the Impact Pathway of a project. |
| Talent line (Veni/Vidi/Vici) | When applying for a grant in the Talent line, you are asked to specify whether you focus on scientific or societal impact, or both |
| NRO | Follows NWO Impact Plan approach, and has a separate section on “knowledge utilisation, dissemination and application” |
European Commission | Horizon Europe | Horizon Europe defines impact along 3 axes:
|
| ERC | ERC focuses less on societal impact and more on “open[ing] up new horizons or opportunities for science, technology or scholarship” |
Colophon
This series is composed by BMS Research Support. While most content applies to a wider array of disciplines, some may resonate more with a BMS audience. If you work at BMS and have any impact-related questions, reach out to Tom Boogerd. If you work at another faculty, you can still reach out and we can find a colleague of your faculty who can help.
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This news item is also available as a page on our website.
