The quality of scientific research is increasingly being measured by its capacity for impact: a transformation being driven by the imperatives of UK Research and Innovation funding and the Research Excellence Framework. This paper explores the implications of the impact agenda for the ways in which research is produced, communicated and used. It explores the lessons learned from two case studies:
- Building an interdisciplinary and co-produced strategy for research, education and engagement at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
- Efforts to influence policy, practice and public opinion using the findings from the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime.
As the paper will demonstrate, these case studies raise major questions about the role and purpose of the 21st-century university, in the context of increasingly complex and contested political environments. The paper concludes with some reflections on what that role should be.
