On Monday, 02 November, the Research Impact and Parliament event was held. This was a great success, with great positive feedback. The event was about how academia’s research can have an impact on Parliament, which included some of our Specialist Group members who were there to showcase their research.
The key point that was raised at the event is that working with Parliament and developing impact must be done in tandem, and that it should form a key part of parliamentary and legislative research; impact should not be seen as an after-thought, bolt-on, or follow-up to research.
The event was opened by Mr Speaker, and closed by the Lord Speaker. The main panel included Paul Evans (Clerk of Journals), Penny Young (Director General of Information Services), Adam Afriyie MP (Chair of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST)), and Professor James Wilsdon (Social Sciences Campaign). The panel was chaired by Roberta Blackwood-Woods MP.
POST have produced a detailed Storify of the event, which can be accessed by clicking here.
The Parliaments and Legislatures SG is organising a further event on the issue of research impact and Parliament, which will be held over lunch during the course of the PSA Conference. This will give a further opportunity to listen to POST’s latest research (by Caroline Kenny et. al.) on the impact of academic research on Parliament. More details on this, and our involvement in PSA Conference more generally, can be found here.