This project investigates the efficacy of university investments in research impact infrastructures. Specifically, it examines how successfully institutional support translates academic knowledge into policy influence. Ultimately, the study aims to determine whether investing in specialized impact infrastructure significantly increases a university's ability to shape public policy.
The project is aligned with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals no. 4 — Quality education, 8 — Decent work and economic growth, 9 — Industry, innovation and infrastructre.
The project is funded by the Overton's Policy Impact Grant.
This project investigates the efficacy of university investments in research impact infrastructures, specifically examining how successfully institutional support translates academic knowledge into policy influence. Across contemporary higher education systems, universities face intensifying pressure to demonstrate that their research contributes meaningfully to society and public policy—moving beyond traditional publication metrics to show visible effects on real-world decisions.
In the United Kingdom, this imperative has become exceptionally pronounced since the introduction of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014, which placed unprecedented emphasis on evidencing research impact. In response, universities have constructed increasingly elaborate impact infrastructures. These systems encompass professional services, specialist roles, REF-oriented contracts, consultancy arrangements, and dedicated internal funding schemes, all designed to cultivate and capture tangible evidence of societal and policy influence.
In 2024, as part of the project “Evaluation of Research Impact and Academic Discourse: A Comparative Approach (Poland, United Kingdom, Norway) 2023–2025”, funded by the National Science Centre (NCN), we conducted a survey among UK universities. The survey examined the types of support available to researchers employed to generate social impact. The current grant from Overton will allow us to combine information on the level of support provided for social impact purposes with a rich database of citations in public policies. This will enable us to provide an initial answer to the question: what pays off in terms of investment in social impact? In other words, does building “infrastructure” around social impact significantly increase researchers’ ability to generate greater social impact (in this case, influence on public policy)?
Wróblewska, Marta
Principal Investigator
Role in the Faculty
{"funkcja-na-wydziale0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Faculty of Humanities in Warsaw"}}
Role in the Department
{"funkcja-w-katedrze0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Department of English Studies"}}
Specialization
applied linguist and philosopher
First and last name
Marta Wróblewska
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
Email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Role in the Institute
{"funkcja-w-instytucie0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Institute of Humanities"}}
Institute
Institute of Humanities
Role in the Research Center
[]
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Marta Wróblewskaapplied linguist and philosopher
Methodology
This project employs a quantitative, institution-level research design. The core methodology involves constructing a composite "impact investment" index from our system-wide dataset of UK universities, linking this measure to Overton’s institutional policy citation metrics, and analyzing the relationship between the two. To isolate the association between institutional investment in impact support and the visibility of research in policy documents, the analysis will control for key structural characteristics of universities—such as size, academic prestige, and overall performance. These variables will be measured using indicators from existing datasets, including research quality and academic reputation profiles from international assessments like the QS or Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The project draws on the following three complementary data sources that together provide a comprehensive picture of institutional investment in research impact and its visibility in public policy:
- Dataset on impact support structures
- Institutional context indicators
- Overton policy citation metrics
Research Team
Hamarowski, Bartosz
First and last name
Bartosz Hamarowski
Email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Institute
Institute of Humanities
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Bartosz Hamarowski
Practical applications of results
The project will generate a small set of targeted outputs aimed at professional, policy, and academic audiences. In line with open-access principles and Overton’s mission to make evidence on research–policy engagement more visible and usable, these outputs include:
- Sector-Facing Article: We plan to prepare a concise analytical piece summarizing the project’s findings for an international research policy readership. Potential outlets include Times Higher Education, Research Europe, or Research Professional News.
- Open-Access Factsheet: A short factsheet outlining key results and visual summaries will be made publicly available via Zenodo under an open license, providing accessible evidence for universities, funders, and policymakers.
- Academic Dissemination (Exploratory): We will also begin developing a draft paper for submission to a scholarly journal in science policy or higher education studies.
About Overton
Overton is an organization that connects research with policy. Read more on the Overton's website
Contact
Marta Wróblewska, Principal Investigator, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..