Session 3.5 - Research Impact
| Wednesday, June 17, 2026 |
| 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM |
Speaker
Mrs Liz Ogilvie
Director
The Collective Facilitation
Developing Facilitating and Sustaining Effective Place based Partnerships
Session Description
This session examines how universities can navigate complex partner landscapes while designing collaborative processes that enable meaningful, equitable engagement across the partnership lifecycle and in place. Drawing on practical experience, Stephanie Bales (Teesside University) will highlight why inclusive facilitation is vital for research impact, specialisation, and sustained relationships with policymakers, communities, and industry. The Collective team will introduce an Effective Partnerships model and three stages: Getting Started, Designing and Facilitating the Process, and People. Participants will reflect on their partnerships, identify development areas, and explore strategies for embedding structured, inclusive facilitation into research support practice using accessible, bias-aware approaches.
Abstract
Effective research impact relies on strong, purposeful, and well-facilitated partnerships that connect universities, policymakers, industry, and communities. This 75-minute session, delivered through a collaboration between Teesside University and The Collective Facilitation, responds directly to the national direction set out in the UK Skills White Paper (2025), which emphasises the creation of a research ecosystem that drives innovation, enables collaboration, and supports local growth through improved funding mechanisms and strengthened Local Innovation Partnerships.
Within this context, this interactive session explores how institutions can adopt a consistent and confident approach to partnership facilitation that ensures sustained and effective research engagement that address real-world challenges and lead to positive impact .
The model for Developing Effective Partnerships is based on the partnership lifecycle taking a relationship from a simple 'customer ' transactional relationship to the more sophisticated transformational relationship of ' advocate '
Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and apply this to gain insight on their research partnerships and how they might be developed using this model .
Within this context, this interactive session explores how institutions can adopt a consistent and confident approach to partnership facilitation that ensures sustained and effective research engagement that address real-world challenges and lead to positive impact .
The model for Developing Effective Partnerships is based on the partnership lifecycle taking a relationship from a simple 'customer ' transactional relationship to the more sophisticated transformational relationship of ' advocate '
Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and apply this to gain insight on their research partnerships and how they might be developed using this model .
Biography
Liz Ogilvie is a facilitator with over 20 years’ experience in facilitation and leadership development, and is a Founding Director of The Collective. Liz has facilitated sandpits and workshops for UKRI, Wellcome, the British Academy, Nuffield, and the NSF in countries including India, Norway, the US, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. She has supported universities and funders in developing innovative, multidisciplinary solutions to complex challenges. Liz is co-author of Research Collaboration: A Step-by-Step Guide to Success (Institute of Physics, 2021). She previously worked for global organisations including Procter & Gamble, education institutions such as Kingston College, and numerous micro-enterprises.
Ms Steph Bales
Director of Research and Enterprise
Teesside University
Co-presenter: Developing Facilitating and Sustaining Effective Place based Partnerships
Biography
Steph Bales is Director of the Research and Enterprise Office at Teesside University, leading strategies for research, innovation, enterprise, and civic engagement. She introduced Teesside’s Partnership Development Framework in 2022, establishing principles and governance for managing external relationships. Previously, as Director of Research and Business Services at Northumbria University, she drove a 30-place rise in REF
rankings. A former Chair of ARMA and INORMS, Steph championed equality, diversity, and inclusion, authored ARMA’s first EDI policy, and launched global initiatives on research evaluation and impact. She has shaped national projects on research culture and metrics and remains committed to professional development.
Dr Caragh Dewis
Director
The Collective Facilitation
Co-presenter: Developing Facilitating and Sustaining Effective Place based Partnerships
Biography
As a founding Director of The Collective, Caragh designs and facilitates workshops bringing together researchers and their collaborative partners, including policy makers, industry, NGOs and people with lived experience. Caragh also leads The Collective's training and development practice, developing interventions across academic career stages, including ECR Innovation & Collaboration Workshops and Research Leadership Programmes. She has led bespoke facilitation skills programmes for ARMA and UK and European universities. Caragh is an experienced Action Learning Facilitator and co-ordinator of a national AL Facilitators Network. Previously, Caragh held leadership roles for Cancer Research UK and Unilever; she has PhD in bio-organic chemistry.
Dr Bridget Sealey
Director
Sealey Associates Ltd
Evaluating impact: Implementing robust methods for assessing the impact of research
Abstract
Effective evaluation is essential for strengthening the credibility, usefulness and long-term value of research impact. However, research and impact professionals often report uncertainty about where to begin when planning evaluation, and often encounter additional challenges related to resourcing and capacity. This interactive workshop offers a structured and practice-oriented introduction to designing robust, values-led evaluation plans that can be adapted across contexts.
The workshop draws on best practice guidance including Abudu et al’s (2024) seven-step approach to research impact assessment, emphasising clarity of purpose, credible indicators and appropriate methodological choices. It also reflects the Centre for Cultural Value’s (2021) principles of beneficial, robust, people-centred and connected evaluation, which encourage reflective, proportionate and ethically grounded approaches.
Participants will work through an evaluation template covering: defining evaluation purpose and audiences; identifying credible outcomes aligned with impact pathways; choosing appropriate methods (including mixed-method and creative approaches); and considering issues of timing, context, proportionality and communication. The session is grounded in Sealey Associates’ extensive experience evaluating research and knowledge exchange investments for national funders and universities across the UK, drawing on mixed-method evaluation and EDI-focused design.
Participants will leave with a practical template and increased confidence in supporting, planning and evidencing impact effectively.
The workshop draws on best practice guidance including Abudu et al’s (2024) seven-step approach to research impact assessment, emphasising clarity of purpose, credible indicators and appropriate methodological choices. It also reflects the Centre for Cultural Value’s (2021) principles of beneficial, robust, people-centred and connected evaluation, which encourage reflective, proportionate and ethically grounded approaches.
Participants will work through an evaluation template covering: defining evaluation purpose and audiences; identifying credible outcomes aligned with impact pathways; choosing appropriate methods (including mixed-method and creative approaches); and considering issues of timing, context, proportionality and communication. The session is grounded in Sealey Associates’ extensive experience evaluating research and knowledge exchange investments for national funders and universities across the UK, drawing on mixed-method evaluation and EDI-focused design.
Participants will leave with a practical template and increased confidence in supporting, planning and evidencing impact effectively.
Biography
Dr Bridget Sealey (Director, Sealey Associates Ltd) is a specialist in research, impact, evaluation and knowledge mobilisation. She has led evaluations for major funders including the Economic and Social Research Council and the British Academy, as well as Research England-funded programmes such as the Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement Research Network and multiple university Impact Accelerator Accounts. Her work includes developing theories of change, designing monitoring frameworks, applying mixed-method and creative approaches, and embedding EDI and appreciative inquiry principles throughout evaluation design. Bridget has held senior roles at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth. She is an accredited facilitator.
