Eagle-eyed impact: scholarship coming to a cinema near you

The THES has an article on the impact generated by the new film ‘Eagle’. The problem is that this is a mistaken understanding of impact. It would not score according to the definitions of the REF, and indeed in the article itself reservation about impact is expressed:

If she is right, then Ms Allason-Jones’ work will be held up as an unusual example of the research “impact” that the UK government is so keen to promote. […]

“The contribution I have made to the film will reach many more people than any academic tome I have written,” she said.

However, she retained some reservations about the impact agenda, and emphasised the importance of the less practical work that underpinned her foray into the celluloid world.

She said: “It is difficult to say how a piece of research will have an impact before you carry it out. My input on The Eagle used knowledge that I have gained from a lifetime of research that had an impact on a small number of people.

“Several years down the line it has contributed to something that will be seen by millions, so it’s hard to assess impact on a short-term basis.”