IHIC 2012

The UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) assesses both academic research and non-academic impact. In addition to supplying evidence of excellent academic research the REF asks all UK higher education institutions to provide case studies explaining the impact of their research beyond higher education (i.e. impact on commerce, health, government, and other aspects of society outside academia).

The School of Informatics now invites the submission of these case studies on the impact of research conducted at the University of Edinburgh in the subject area of computer science and informatics. A prize will be awarded for the best case study received.

For the purposes of IHIC 2012, case studies must:

• describe research conducted in the period 1st January 1993 to 31st May 2012;
  • the research must be in the subject area of computer science and informatics;
• the research must have been conducted by staff who were working for the University of Edinburgh at the time the research was conducted
  • these members of staff need not necessarily still be employed by the University of Edinburgh;
• the research must be of a quality that is recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour
  • the research does not need to be shown to be world-leading, or even shown to be excellent, although of course it may be;
• the research must have made a distinct and material contribution to the impact taking place, such that the impact would not have occurred (or would have been significantly reduced) without the contribution of that research
  • the contribution may be direct or indirect, and the impact need not have been achieved by University of Edinburgh staff;
• the impact of the research must have occurred during the period 1st January 2008 to 31st May 2012
  • case studies describing potential future impact which may occur will not be eligible.

The following contextual information is adapted from the guidance on submissions published by the REF.

• For the purposes of the IHIC 2012 competition and the REF, impact is defined as an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.
• Impact includes, but is not limited to, an effect on, change or benefit to:
  • the activity, attitude, awareness, behaviour, capacity, opportunity, performance, policy, practice, process or understanding
  • of an audience, beneficiary, community, constituency, organisation or individuals
  • in any geographic location whether locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.
• Impact includes the reduction or prevention of harm, risk, cost or other negative effects.
• Impacts on research or the advancement of academic knowledge within the higher education sector (whether in the UK or internationally) are excluded. (The submitted unit's contribution to academic research and knowledge is assessed within the "outputs" and "environment" elements of REF.)
• Impacts on students, teaching or other activities in the University of Edinburgh are excluded.
• Other impacts within the higher education sector, including on teaching or students, are included where they extend significantly beyond the University of Edinburgh.

• Submissions must have a title and five sections:
  1. Summary of the impact;
  2. Underpinning research;
  3. References to the research;
  4. Details of the impact; and
  5. Sources to corroborate the impact.
  Suggested word lengths for each section and their typical contents appear in Annex G of the REF documentation. Entrants to the competition are strongly advised to read this document.
• Submissions should be four pages in length. Office documents are preferred (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, NeoOffice or other) but documents in other formats will also be accepted (e.g. LaTeX).
• Send your completed impact case study by email to
  ihic-submissions@inf.ed.ac.uk

• The winning entry will receive the Ian Clarke prize, named in honour of an Informatics graduate whose work went on to achieve great impact.
• The Ian Clarke prize comes in the form of a School of Informatics budget allocation of £1,000. This can be used to have the School purchase equipment such as a laptop, smartphone, tablet computer, printer, monitor or other; to fund attendance at a conference, paying registration fee, travel, or accommodation; to provide catering for a workshop or institute event; or for other reasonable expenses incurred in the normal course of academic life.
• The Ian Clarke prize will be available to spend in the financial year from 1st August 2012 to 31st July 2013. Any money remaining unspent in the budget after 31st July 2013 will no longer be accessible.

• The competition is open to all members of the School of Informatics. Both staff and students of all categories can submit entries.
• Group submissions are allowed. A submission may have several authors. In the case of the Ian Clarke prize being won by a group the group will share the prize as they see fit.
• Multiple submissions are allowed. An entrant may submit more than one case study, either as an individual or as a member of one or more groups.
• The decision of the judges is final.

• Do I need to have been involved in the research?
  • No, you do not need to have been the author of any of the publications or otherwise in any way involved in the research. (For example, you could write a case study about the impact of Robin Milner's research.) You can write a case study about the research of anyone provided:
    1. they worked for the University of Edinburgh somewhere between 1993 and the date that you submit your competition entry; and
    2. they produced research in the subject area of computer science and informatics.
• Do I need to get someone's permission before writing about the impact of their research?
  • No, you do not need to get someone's permission before writing about the impact of their research. All of the information that you include in your case study should be based on published research (published between 1st January 1993 and the date that you submit your competition entry) so there is no concern that you might give away details of someone's unpublished research.
• Do I need to have been involved in the impact?
  • No, you do not need to have been involved in the impact. For example, you could write a case study about a successful spin-out company without working for the company or being otherwise involved with it.
• Can I write about potential future impact which could come from Informatics research?
  • No, you cannot write about potential impact which might happen in the future. For IHIC 2012 the impact which you describe must have occurred in the period January 2008 to May 2012.