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Impact @ Wolverhampton

For Research StaffFor Research Students

Creating Opportunities
Improving. Influencing. Innovating.

At the University of Wolverhampton, we are passionate about making a positive impact on our students, our local community and beyond.  Through collaboration and multi-disciplinary projects, our researchers contribute to public debate, create solutions to local, national and global challenges, and preserve and promote cultural works of international significance. 

By advancing knowledge, and bringing together excellence and innovation, we challenge perceptions and seek to change the world for the better.

Across the University, scholars within our Research Centres and inter-disciplinary Research Institutes work closely with commercial and civil society partners in a wide range of research and translational projects.  From realising intelligent infrastructures to sustainable construction, from the arts in criminal justice to exercise as medicine, from presenting the self in cyberspace to creating cultural networks, and from designing for people with dementia to new discoveries in diabetes research - impact sits at the heart of all our activities. 

More information on our impact from research can be found in the case studies below and in our research newsletters:

Equality and Diversity

The University of Wolverhampton is committed to issues of Equality and Diversity, and to enabling all staff and students to succeed.  Our policy statements on Equality and Diversity can be found here. The impact of our research in this area has national and international reach. For instance our work on board processes and behaviours have brought new feminist perspectives on corporate governance impacting practices across the sectors.

The university was recently awarded the Athena Swan Bronze award in recognition of its work in developing a gender equality plan.

Useful Links

You can also contact the impact team at impact@wlv.ac.uk, for more information about research and impact at the University of Wolverhampton. 

Planning for impact

Planning for impact is an important aspect of preparing research proposals and other applications. Individual Funders assess impact according to their specific remit and the call’s expectations so it is important to ask for advice before submitting any proposal for funding to ensure that your application fully aligns to their impact definitions and expectations.

Although it is no longer required to submit a separate Pathways to Impact in research bids to UKRI, impact continues to be a core consideration throughout the grant application process. Identifying the potential impact of the research can help with planning and prioritising knowledge exchange, public engagement and dissemination activities.

To address the impact requirements throughout the grant application the Project Support Office (PSO) can help with the following:

  • Provide specific funder definitions of impact, depending on the nature of the funder, and funder priorities
  • Provide guidance and advice on funder requirements and rules for addressing impact in bids and grant applications
  • Provide advice on what funders expect to see as part of an impact section in a bid and its structure and contents
  • Provide guidance regarding impact sections on JeS and other funder electronic submission systems
  • Provide a link to the Impact Officers and other relevant colleagues within both the Research Services and External Relations to ensure impact planning for funding applications, and articulating the impact on research bids

Making a difference...

Our impact from research undertaken at the University has increased considerably in the last years: for the Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) assessment we will be submitting 43 impact case studies across 17 Units of Assessment which is an increase of more than a third compared with REF2014.

The University of Wolverhampton is partnered with the following networks, highlighting how our research can impact on policy:

  • The Universities Policy Engagement Network, UPEN, is a community of UK universities committed to increasing the impact of research on policy.
  • The COP26 Universities Network is a community of institutions aligned to their commitment to sustainability and the climate change agenda.
Our research: Making a difference | Big Data

Michael Thelwall, Professor of Information Science and Head of the Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, discusses one of the main projects the group is working on, Big Data.

The group has developed a computer programme to assess whether social media posts contain positive or negative sentiment, and how strong that sentiment is.

The project is now being developed to be applied to real life situations such as how transport authorities can change road layouts based on drivers’ levels of stress. 

Our research: Making a difference | Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is eating in order to create or change an emotion in some way.

Tracey Devonport, Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Wolverhampton, explains how research at the University of Wolverhampton is seeking to help people create strategies for regulating their emotions without relying on eating habits. 

Our research: Making a difference | Brain Tumour Research

Our dedicated Neuro-oncology Research Centre at the University of Wolverhampton is leading the way in identifying the genetic causes of brain tumours and the treatments to deal with them.

Discover the progress our scientists are making in developing this vital research. 

Contact us...

impact@wlv.ac.uk

...for more information on how our research and programmes could benefit you!