44. Impact Literacy: A/Prof Julie Bayley on why just expecting impact isn't the same as enabling it
Subscribe to the Amplifying Research podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Pocketcasts
Episode show notes
A/Prof Julie Bayley is one of the world's leading voices on research impact, and she's on a mission to make sure that the pathway from academic inquiry to meaningful societal change isn't just left to chance. She joins us to unpack impact literacy — a practical framework and step-by-step workbook that helps researchers find their place in the impact puzzle, and helps institutions build the culture to make it all possible.
Julie is currently the Director of Research Impact and Culture at Northeastern University London. Previously, she was Director of Research Impact Development and Director of the Lincoln Impact Literacy Institute, both at the University of Lincoln, UK. She's the author of Creating Meaningful Impact: The Essential Guide to Developing an Impact Literate Mindset, one of Emerald Publishing's bestselling books of 2023.
Julie's passion for impact is deeply personal. A blood clot in 2008 left her unable to walk without pain for ten years — until research-developed vascular stents gave her mobility back. That experience cemented her commitment to ensuring research reaches the people who need it.
Together with David Phipps (Director of Research Impact Canada and Assistant Vice President, Research Strategy and Impact at York University), Julie has developed a suite of freely available tools including the Impact Literacy Workbook and the “Are you Impact Healthy?” Institutional Health Check Workbook — practical resources designed to help researchers and institutions plan for, deliver, and evaluate impact.
"The more we put impact as an extra, a burdensome extra, the less we're going to grow it, the less change we're going to make, and the more ill-equipped our researchers will be to do it… In academia, we have the most incredible opportunity to make a difference… Impact literacy is not about being an impact expert. It’s is being able to judge where you fit into that picture." — Julie Bailey
This episode is essential listening for anyone responsible for driving or supporting research impact — whether you're an individual researcher trying to understand where you fit, a team leader building impact capability, or an institutional leader looking to create a culture where impact is genuinely enabled, not just expected.
Our conversation covers:
The impact literacy model: why, how, who, and what
Walking through the Impact Literacy Workbook step by step: from framing your problem to assembling your impact plan
Why researchers should start thinking about impact much earlier than they typically do
Identifying stakeholders and beneficiaries — and why it's about assembling the right team, not listing everyone
Why jumping straight to methods ("we'll build an app") is the wrong approach to knowledge mobilisation
Co-producing impact: bringing stakeholders in as early as possible
The skills researchers need — and why you don't need all of them yourself
What a healthy impact culture looks like at the institutional level
The five C's framework: commitment, connectivity, co-production, competencies, and clarity
Using the institutional health check to diagnose priorities and track progress
Why the approach to impact in an institution is often a mirror of leadership's view of it
Find Julie online:
Website — https://juliebayley.blog
Practical tips:
Start by framing the problem your research addresses:
Before diving into impact plans or funding bids, articulate the real-world deficit your research is trying to address. Use directional language — what's missing, what's too high, what's too low.
"If you can do that with your research and explain an impact problem, you have cleared so much of the issue with writing about impact, because people start a little bit too late in the journey." — Julie Bayley
Find your specific contribution — don't try to own the whole impact chain:
Impact literacy isn't about becoming an impact expert. It's about understanding which part of the puzzle you bring and who you pass the baton to. A lab researcher's contribution might be doing excellent foundational work and getting it to an intervention developer — and that's enough.
"Finding the place and who they pass the baton to and getting a kind of agreement with their bosses that that is their contribution… you want an impact trajectory. It's simple concept, hard in practice." — Julie Bayley
Ask the four questions — why, how, who, and what:
Use the impact literacy model as a quick self-check at any stage of your research. Why does this impact matter? How will you connect your research with society? Who needs to be involved? And what change are you aiming for?
"If they ask themselves those four questions — why does it matter, how they can do it, who they need to involve themselves with, and what change might happen further down the line — then you want an impact trajectory." — Julie Bayley
Map your stakeholders by function, not just by name:
Rather than producing an endless list of everyone who might be relevant, think about who needs to be involved at each stage — framing the problem, co-producing research, communicating findings, supporting uptake. This prevents both paralysis (too many people) and blind spots (too few).
"Stakeholders, yes, but bringing them as early in the journey to help shape things is where you need to be." — Julie Bayley
Don't jump straight to methods:
Resist the urge to decide on outputs (a website, a webinar, an app) before you've worked out the purpose, the people, and the need. Match your knowledge mobilisation methods to your stakeholders and goals, not the other way around.
"What commonly can happen is people jump straight to the methods, especially when they're writing a funding bid… and then almost backfill what's in them. And for impact, it's the wrong way round." — Julie Bayley
Bring stakeholders in as early as possible:
Co-production for impact means involving stakeholders not just at the dissemination stage but as far back towards the research design as you can. Earlier involvement builds shared ownership, trust, and line of sight for implementation — and ultimately means less effort for the researcher.
"There's no logic that keeps society at bay until the end, until you go, 'here's this perfect thing you didn't want.' So bring people in as early as you can." — Julie Bayley
Create an impact evidence folder — even if it's basic:
Start gathering impact evidence early, even if it's just a folder where you drop anything that hints at impact. You can sift and organise later. The key is not losing evidence over time — websites go down, contacts move on.
"Even if researchers just have a folder marked 'impact' and they drop anything in that even hints towards impact, the likelihood is they've got some impact people in their university who can help them sift through that." — Julie Bayley
For leaders — use the five C's to diagnose your impact culture:
Use the Impact Healthy Institutional Health Check to assess where your organisation sits across commitment, connectivity, co-production, competencies, and clarity. You don't have to tackle everything at once — identify your weakest area and start there.
"Almost invariably, the approach to impact in an institution is a mirror of the leadership's view of impact. So if they see it as extra, it's treated as extra. If they see it as important, it's treated as important." — Julie Bayley
Credits:
Host & Producer: Chris Pahlow
Edited by: Laura Carolina Corrigan
Music by: La Boucle and Blue Steel, courtesy of Epidemic Sound
- Career development
- Co-design
- Collaborating with professional staff
- Communicating in different formats/mediums
- Community engagement
- Feedback
- Impact planning
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Knowledge mobilisation
- Leadership
- Making your work relatable
- Mentorship
- Public engagement
- Stakeholder/audience mapping
- Storytelling
- Strategic comms
- Strategy
- Talks and presentations
- Team alignment
- Your pitch
