Promoting research impact and knowledge exchange

The University has been allocated £879k of funding from the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) new Impact Acceleration Accounts.

The Accounts provide funding to the ESRC's 25 top funded research organisations and can be used for knowledge exchange activities relating to any area of the ESRC's remit.

The fund will support researchers in building relationships and networks with potential research partners and the users of the products of research and to improve engagement with the public sector, civil society and industry.

Professor Rick Delbridge, University Dean of Research, Innovation & Enterprise, said: "This is a very welcome new initiative from the ESRC. The funding will help the university ensure that our research continues to have wider beneficial impact for society.

"The award is testimony to the outstanding social science research conducted here at Cardiff, particularly in the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, but also more widely across the University. This support will complement the University's ambitious plans for extending our research collaborations and the production of practically relevant social science knowledge."

The funding is the latest ESRC success for the University. The impact of Cardiff Business School's research recently featured in an ESRC Report Evaluating the Business Impact of Social Science, and three Cardiff researchers were awarded coveted Future Research Leaders funding from the Council. Earlier in 2013, Professor Kevin Morgan and Dr Roberta Sonnino won the Public Policy category of the ESRC's Celebrating Impact Prize and Cardiff is also the lead partner in the ESRC Wales Doctoral Training Centre.