What is the societal impact of university research? A policy-oriented review to map approaches, identify monitoring methods and success factors

Exploring the connection between EU-funded research and methodological approaches: insights from a retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND

Over the last two decades, substantial investments have been directed towards supporting fundamental and applied research in Alzheimer's disease (AD), breast cancer (BC), and prostate cancer (PC), which continue to pose significant health challenges. Recently, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) conducted a retrospective analysis to examine the major scientific advancements resulting from EU-funded research in these disease areas and their impact on society.

METHODS

Building upon this analysis, our subsequent investigation delves into the methodological approaches-both animal and non-animal models and methods-employed in AD, BC, and PC research funded under past EU framework programs (FP5, FP6, FP7, and H2020), and explored the notable research outputs associated with these approaches.

RESULTS

Our findings indicate a prevalent use of animal-based methodologies in AD research, particularly evident in projects funded under H2020. Notably, projects focused on drug development, testing, or repurposing heavily relied on animal models. Conversely, research aimed at clinical trial design, patient stratification, diagnosis and diagnostic tool development, lifestyle interventions, and prevention-outputs with potential societal impact-more frequently utilised non-animal methods. Advanced investigations leveraging imaging, computational tools, biomarker discovery and organ/tissue chip technologies predominantly favoured non-animal strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

These insights highlight a correlation between methodological choices and the translational potential of research outcomes, suggesting the need for a reconsideration of research strategy planning in future framework programs.

Developing a societal impact evaluation framework for sustainable European University Alliances

European University alliances, formally introduced in 2019, are rapidly expanding, as more than 400 million euros have been dedicated in 2023 by the European Commission to foster international collaborations to promote new forms of development within and beyond university communities. By undertaking interventionist research on UNITA - Universitas Montium, one of the largest European alliances, representing 160.000 students, this paper aims to illustrate how a university alliance is tasked with developing an internal assessment methodology to account for the societal benefits created by the project for the academic and civil communities. The elaboration of the assessment tool to assess the contribution to higher education and societal sustainable communities has brought researchers to discover etic and emic implications, revealing the existence of an accountability layer in which the international alliance directly engages with rural and mountain communities in marginalized areas. This research marks a significant advancement in the field of higher education sustainability, providing both a novel analytical perspective on the benefits of university alliances for the development of local sustainable communities and a methodological tool for their assessment.

Gender biases in the evaluation of knowledge transfer: A meta-evaluative analysis of the Spanish "Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Sexennium"

This paper analyses from a gender perspective a pilot call for evaluating academics and researcher transfer and innovation activities, launched by the Spanish Government in 2018, known as the "Knowledge Transfer & Innovation Sexennium" (KT&IS). Not only women's participation was much lower than that of men (1 woman applicant for every 3 men applicants), but also, they showed lower success rates than men in all scientific fields, with an average gap of more than 13 points. The methodology combined an exploratory quantitative analysis of the almost 17,000 applications, with a meta-evaluative qualitative analysis through interviews to key actors of the evaluation program and focus groups with evaluators. Hidden biases operating throughout and in each of the different phases of the KT&IS evaluation process were identified. This article aims at contributing to how economic and social impact of research can be fairly and fully evaluated, as well as at facilitating the design of future evaluation calls that promote the effective advancement of gender equality in all science-related activities and transfer to society.

Creating a developmental framework for evaluating RRI implementation in research organisations

The evaluation of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) actions presents important challenges for the key stakeholders engaged in the process of RRI implementation, such as policy makers, programme managers, and researchers. While there is a considerable body of literature on the conceptualization of responsibility in research and a plethora of attempts to practice RRI, there is a need for increased attention to the monitoring and evaluation of case studies of RRI implementations in research organisations, in particular regarding their structural change effects. This paper aims to discuss a contextualised developmental framework for evaluating RRI implementation in research organisations, with a specific focus on achieving structural change through tailor-made action plans. The framework, developed through RRI evaluation work in the field of biosciences, adopts a systemic and process-oriented perspective, encompassing participatory, anticipatory, reflexive, and responsive dimensions. Concrete empirical examples from bioscience organizations are provided to illustrate how the framework relates to specific conditions, experiences, and solutions, demonstrating how conceptual insights have emerged from real-life practices and data analysis. While the framework was initially customized for the specific contexts of six bioscience research organizations, it holds potential for broader relevance and applicability in addressing challenges related to RRI design, implementation, and evaluation.

Productive interactions in digital training partnerships: Lessons learned for regional development and university societal impact assessment

In development, social, and management theories, universities have gained increasing relevance as engines of growth and innovation. Alongside companies, universities engage in a collaborative exploration for a shared knowledge base that does not pursue immediate exploitation. Drawing on research evaluation and the regional and entrepreneurial studies on University-Industry Collaborations (UICs) and knowledge ecosystems, this article assesses the digital training partnerships the University of Naples in Italy has established with some global technology and advanced manufacturing companies. By examining their innovative performance, the case study evaluation explores university-business 'productive interactions,' highlighting such critical issues as the management and risks of co-innovation, the attraction of talents, and the development of human capital in a peripheral and moderate innovative region. The article critically discusses the regional development outcomes and the evaluation designs to assess the societal impact of university research and education.