What do I write about impact?

Logic and structure

Impact text is not something you “invent” when you come to the impact chapter. It must follow from your objectives, your work and your results.

It is the results that make the impact.

The objectives, what you will achieve in the project, must be written in line with what the call text specifies for impact. Your achievements shall fulfill the expectations of the funding body for impact. This means that if you set the objectives close to the expected impact of the funding body it is much easier to write the impact text.

The work you do in the project shall produce results. These results are what is going to make the difference. Therefore, you must have results that will have an impact. The impact text must therefore link to the results.

Impact starts when you have results. However, you are going to write about expected impact so you must also describe how impact will develop post project. As it is expected impact your text should be realistic but positive and optimistic about the future of your results. This is what you hope for or want your results to become to your best knowledge.

On what and how for whom?

Describe for each result what it will have impact on or to whom the impact may be important. Wherever possible, use quantified indicators and targets.

Impact in health - what:

Science and further research
Policy making
- Evidence based policy
- Indicators for decisions
Legislation
- Directives etc
Procedures and best practice
- Better health
- Better care
- Quality of life
- Environment
- Employment

Impact in health – how?

Quantify, present numbers and do calculations:

Saved costs
Gained living years
Gained work years
Gained health (value)
Number of treatments x cost per treatment
Less pain
Less medication

For different stakeholders/levels:

Society
Health care
Individuals
Families
Gender/age group

Time

Impact takes time and may develop over time like this:

Time is an important dimension in your impact text. Describe how you expect your results develop over time. This may be useful for your story on how your new knowledge will be transformed into benefit for patients and care: Your result created new knowledge that changed the behavior of doctors and nurses, this lead to a new practice that became a new policy for treatment of the actual patient group.

TRL

You can also build a story of how your results will mature using the TRL levels. See: What is TRL?

Barriers/Obstacles

Describe what may stand in the way for the expected impact and how you will get around it. Obstacles or barriers may be:

Regulations and standards
Public or others’ acceptance
Cost/benefit
Need for more capital

Maximizing impact

Describe:

how you will disseminate the results
how your project will communicate the project work and create awareness
how you will exploit and use the results (a plan may be fine)