Module 4- Research Impact and Public Engagement

Lesson 1: Impact: why research matters?

The student can understanding of the concept of research impact and the different areas of impact beyond academia.
The student can distinguish between output, outcome and impacts.
The student will become familiar and differentiate several RMA facilitation roles that add value to research (such as science communication, societal engagement, technology and knowledge exchange).
The student can explain the benefits that impact-driven research can bring to the economy and society.
The student can explore several paths to maximise research impact (for example by finding the ways to incorporate the most relevant 17 sustainable development goals into the research project).

The student can explain Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles and practices in its main thematic elements: public engagement, open access, gender, ethics, science education, science communication and engagement, and impact.
The student can identify cross-cutting issues in a given project (e.g. ethical and gender issues) and identify different strategies to address them in different research projects.
The student can argue about the reasons for promoting accountability, responsibility, ethics and integrity in research.
The student can contribute to the design of activities and instruments fitted to each of the RRI principles.

The student will become familiar and differentiate several RMA facilitation roles that add value to research (such as science communication, societal engagement, technology and knowledge exchange).
The student is aware of the major elements and characteristic features of a research engagement plan and the key performance indicators.
The student will be able to map the different target stakeholders and its roles at different stages of the research project.
The student is able to select the engagement strategies, platforms and communication style suited for each target audience.

The student can distinguish the aims and activities pertaining to science communication, dissemination and broader impact.
The student can effectively communicate ideas and the main results of a given project to non-specialist audiences, applying different strategies to increase audience interest and understanding.
The student can implement science engagement tasks in simulated situations.

The student can design a research engagement plan and identify suitable key performance indicators to assess stakeholder engagement.