Research Councils UK today published a report which gives an overview of the impacts of RCUK-funded research on UK public policy:

Impacts: Success in Shaping Public Policy and Services (PDF)

The document includes a number of case studies which highlight how publicly-funded research has significant impact outside of academia. It’s interesting to read about research which crosses traditional academic boundaries and has an effect on policy which you perhaps wouldn’t expect.

A case in point is the AHRC-funded Design Against Crime research centre. From the report:

The AHRC supported Design Against Crime Research Centre aims to catalyse the design of products, services and environments that are visually pleasing and crime-proof whilst being fit for purpose in all other respects. Its research generates a greater understanding of how to tackle the public policy issue of crime, while also creating tested products that directly address crime problems. One of its key achievements has been Bikeoff advocacy, which has contributed to making bike crime a focus of police activity as a comparator crime (one of the crimes that the police are measured on in terms of volume of crime). Bikeoff explores how the design of cycling related objects and environments might reduce the risk of theft and promote cycle usage. Practice-based design research leads to cycling products and services that consider users (cyclists) but also abusers (vandals and thieves). The centre works in collaboration with three initiatives supporting the principles of designing out crime. The Centre has also provided guidance on crime reduction to the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit and the European Forum on Urban Safety.

This RCUK Impacts survey, together with the recent AHRC-produced Leading the World report, which highlights the impact of arts and humanities research on the economy and society, offer a good resource for researchers considering how to present impact of their own research. The indications are that HEFCE will ask institutions to include evidence of impact in the forthcoming REF narrative, so universities and researchers will increasingly need to identify and tell these kinds of stories about their own research.