Festival23

In 2018 with economic, societal and environmental emergencies making headlines across the globe daily, consumers were demanding businesses adapt and change. Aspect arose in answer to this need this need, brining together those sitting at the epicentre of discovery, imagination and progress in the social sciences. This was the first video produced by Aspect early in its formation. What better way to begin celebrations 5 years later.

To kick of this Aspect Festival23 Media Channel we’re going to look back to Aspect Festival21 where we joined Professor Julia Black, President of the British Academy and Strategic Director of Innovation, London School of Economics and Political Science in conversation with Ravi Gurumurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Nesta and Dr Paul Thompson, Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art, to look at how the social sciences, arts and humanities (SHAPE) are contributing to innovation as society changes. This session asked how SHAPE embraces the future in an ever-changing world, and discusses what is taking place right now that shows the positive impact of SHAPE in society.

This is part of the Aspect-funded ‘Inside the Founder’s Mind’ podcast series. In this first episode we approach the psychology and mindset of the entrepreneur from a rather unusal angle. Our guest, Kasper Schmeichel, goalkeeper of Leicester City football club in the Premier League and national goalkeeper for Denmark, helps us to draw important parallels between the football and the entrepreneurial pitch and the importance of adaptation and innovation as a key component to professional growth. He walks us through the important role of setbacks in shaping you as a person and preparing you for success, relying on the crucial concept of getting your hands dirty from day one. And, if you ever feel like there’s too many voices coming from all angles – a professional footballer might know just how you are feeling!

Aspect members have pondered the question of how to provide support to students and alumni who apply and enter a funding competition or competitive application process to place on an accelerator, but ultimately fail to get to the final round.

The ASAP club was established by Aspect member LSE to address this challenge. In this knowledge sharing Q&A session led by the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, LSE presented the development of ASAP Club, its goals and toolkit offerings.

Welcome to the Methods for Change project!

Social scientists from the Aspect-funded Methods for Change (M4C) project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

In this recent M4C ‘how to’ guides we look at the Constructivist Grounded Theory research method used by Dr Denise Miller from the University of Greenwich. The artwork was created in collaboration with Chris Murray, More than Minutes.

Wales is one of the most impoverished areas of the UK and Northern Europe. As such the development of social enterprises need to be particularly well measured, with the challenges being addressed by new ventures fully understood and the solutions effective.

Professor Tim Edwards, PhD, FRSA Pro-Dean for Research, Impact and Innovation at Cardiff University Business School, Martin Downes, Social Entrepreneurship Officer, Social Business Wales New Start programme - Wales Co-operative Centre and Anthony Samuel, Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Strategy, University of Cardiff looking at how a new type of fellowship initiative developed by Cardiff Business School and the Welsh Co-Operative Centre established communities of entrepreneurs that work together to understand and tackle social challenges and create social enterprise ecosystems of measurable impact.

This session was part of the Aspect Festival21 series.

Our guest in this episode is Palma Michel, coach and mindful leadership advisor, and in conversation with LJ Silverman, Head of LSE Generate, we attempt to uncover some of the silver linings of crises (at the time of recording it was the pandemic). In particular, we discuss soft skills such as creativity and resilience and how these current times allow us the opportunity to get to know ourselves a bit better and learn to reap the benefits of being in the present. Such awareness is also a crucial element in an entrepreneur’s ability to manage others and build compassion towards the innate humanity of clients and team members. Our favourite key takeaway? Practicing self-reflection in the here and now.

Inside the Founder’s Mind is an Aspect produced podcast series that comprises a series of short insightful podcast episodes hosted by business leaders, psychologists and entrepreneurial students who explore in depth the entrepreneurial mindset and discuss key traits such as resilience, stamina and facing failure. The series aims to inform, inspire, and prepare early-stage innovators, preparing them for life as an entrepreneur.

We chatted with Tahir, from the University of Sussex, about his venture Mawthuq which is helping to improve financial access for people from displaced communities.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021.

Toi find out more about ARC visit the Aspect website here.

Join the Methods for Change team for this online session on Innovate UK’s knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs) which covered the eligibility criteria, application process and managing a funded Innovate UK KTP project. This session was delivered by the Methods for Change team, in partnership with University Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange Professionals responsible for developing KTP applications, Innovate UK staff, and academics and non-academic partners who have received Innovate UK KTP funding.

Please note that this content only becomes available at the scheduled time. After the scheduled time you will be able to view this content in the Archive.

In early Spring 2021, the Aspect Business Engagement CoP (BECoP) explored how funding mechanisms can best fit the needs of social scientists, to ensure that social science businesses engagement is given the same encouragement and recognition as other disciplines within universities and by funders. The COP first considered its own experience of funding for business engagement in the social sciences, and then invited a number of key funders to tell us more about their scheme design and the evolving space they are working in.

In this briefing note, we present the thoughts of the BECoP with regards to the key challenges identified, and how these can be addressed by funders, universities and social science leaders.

The Aspect Business Engagement Community of Practice (BE CoP) have led a series of Aspect-funded projects focussed on developing good practice in and exploring challenges related to industry and academic engagement in social sciences.

While there are a breadth of industries where social sciences can add value, four sectors were chosen as focus points for ‘deep dives’: Creative Industries, FinTech, LegalTech, and HealthTech.

During this session from the previous Aspect Festival (2021), BE CoP members joined with Social Science academics from their institution to share challenges identified, lessons learned, and tips for engaging in the sectors.

Chaired by Britta Wyatt, Managing Consultant at Oxentia, panellists included: Alexander Riley, Aspect Broker for University of Manchester, Dr Rachel Rahman, Psychology Department, Aberystwyth University, Laura Hockenhull-Smith, Research, Business & Innovation, Aberystwyth University, Professor Jonathan Beaverstock, School of Management, University of Bristol, Dr Helen Mullen, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Dr Dominic Chambers, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Dr Gordon Meiklejohn, Research and Innovation Services, University of Glasgow, Dr Ruth Welters, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, University of Bristol, David Dalley, Psychology Department, Aberystwyth University, Horatio Mortimer, Business Innovation Manager, LSE Research and Innovation.

Palma Michel returns, this time in the company of Anthea Kolitsas, founder of Project Happy Note, to discuss empathy, compassion and purpose and the ways in which these feed into the lifeblood of entrepreneurship. They unpack why demonstrating empathy may actually hinder our goals and why we should focus instead on developing the skills to practice compassion – both towards ourselves and others. From fine-tuning the ability to be an active listener to key questions about how to find and pin down our purpose in life and in business, this conversation provides some essential tips and tricks for entrepreneurs to deal with perfectionism and goal attainment. As an added bonus, at the end of the episode Palma also introduces a meditation technique to practice a few minutes of compassion.

Inside the Founder’s Mind is an Aspect produced podcast series that comprises a series of short insightful podcast episodes hosted by business leaders, psychologists and entrepreneurial students who explore in depth the entrepreneurial mindset and discuss key traits such as resilience, stamina and facing failure. The series aims to inform, inspire, and prepare early-stage innovators, preparing them for life as an entrepreneur.

Devie is a digital coaching app supporting parents of early years children through a range of activities, advice and mental health support.

This case study is from the University of Oxford, and is part of a series produced by the Aspect Ecosystem Mapping Project. The project, part of the Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, aimed to share examples of best practice and showcase exceptional stories of innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation in the social sciences from each of the participating universities.

You can read more about the Aspect Ecosystem Mapping Project here.

Continuing with the Aspect-funded Methods for Change project, this ‘how to’ guide outlines the Participatory Activist Research method used by Prof. Jenny Pickerill (The University of Sheffield). The comic was created in collaboration with Hugh Goldring and Nicole Burton from Petroglyph Comics.

Social scientists within the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations, were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

Danish born Klaus Thymann is a multi award-winning photographer, filmmaker, explorer, writer, creative director and environmental consultant who founded Project Pressure - a charity with a mission to visualise the climate crisis. Using visual art as a positive touch-point to inspire action and behavioural change, they work with world-renowned artists to conduct expeditions around the globe, creating eye-opening work that endeavours to incite social and political change. The projects are developed and executed with scientists to ensure accuracy, resulting in work from every continent on the planet.

Project Pressure has pioneered innovative, new technological strategies and forged partnerships with the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

We caught up with Klaus and Renate Aller, one of the artists Project Pressure collaborates with, in 2021. Focussing, primarily on portraiture and landscape, Renate is best known for expansive, poetic images that visually unite two ostensibly different environments—the ocean and the desert. Her luminous yet quiet landscapes embody the qualities of classical portraiture, with the ocean or desert replacing the human subject. Tracing an unbroken line, the eye is guided from one sweeping landscape to the next without doubting their separateness in location and origin. Renate Aller intentionally pairs images for each installation, forming an immersive panorama showing the interconnectedness of distant environments, opening up conversations between the different (political) landscapes in which we live.

You can find out more about Project Pressure’s pioneering work here.

This panel discussion from March 2022 brought together experiences of experts from ecosystems around the world to discuss the impact of SHAPE. Panellists will share insights on the wider context and driving factors of SHAPE commercialisation in their respective regions.

Following this, a Q&A and panel discussion will explore topics such as how they are communicating SHAPE commercialisation among peers and stakeholders, their views on prospects and ambitions for the future, and the question of whether SHAPE commercialisation is giving practical effect to SDGs and how this can be taken further in a post disciplinary world.

Panelists: David Ai (Chair) David is Head of Innovation, Research and Innovation Division, LSE. Previously, David worked as Chief Innovation Officer and Director of the Office of Innovation and Commercialisation at the University of Hawaii System (UH), which he joined in March 2018. He was chairman of the International Strategy Committee at AUTM (Association of University Technology Managers) from 2017 to 2019, and chaired AUTM Asia Conference in 2017 which was held in Hong Kong. Prior to Hawaii, he was Director of Knowledge Transfer at the City University of Hong Kong, 2014-2018. He also worked for Stanford’s Office of Technology Licensing for six years, managing inventions while spearheading Stanford’s technology marketing effort in China.

Dr. Balzhan Orazbayeva Balzhan is the Strategic Initiatives Manager at the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN), a leading organisation on university-industry engagement. In this role, she conducts research, designs and delivers innovative training, consultancy concepts and models to develop more engaged and entrepreneurial universities. Balzhan is also the project director of REVALORISE+ working to enhance the entrepreneurial potential and social impact of social sciences and humanities research.

Holli Evans Holli is the Business Development Manager at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) with a focus on linking industry to QUT researchers and establishing long-term mutually beneficial relationships.

On Saturday the 22nd October 2022 at the Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow, the KE & impact team of the COSS, University of Glasgow, held an event tilted Let’s talk about games within the Festival of Social Science (FoSS) funded by the ESRC. This blog shares insights from the event.

The event was part of the activities of the Games Hub, a project funded by ASPECT. Building on activities of the last two years, the Games Hub Project is continuing to support the work on gaming and innovation of both academics and professional services from the University of Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, and Nottingham Trent.

In this online session we joined Ruth Daniel, CEO of In Place of War, Artistic Director, Activist, Change-Maker, Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Manchester and proud owner of an old VW van, to discuss the importance of evaluating and documenting the impact of social enterprises.

As CEO of In Place of War, Ruth has led a diverse range of arts and peace-building initiatives across the globe. She has developed and implemented over a hundred cultural programmes in sites of conflict and disadvantage such as war zones, post war zones and areas of economic deprivation. She prepared numerous successful funding applications, recently receiving a £1million AHRC research grant for a 3 year programme that will explore how grassroots organisations can create social change using art.

Launched in 2023 Aspect Angels is a new Angel network will be the first of its type to support the development, growth and positive impact of SHAPE ventures. Aspect Angels will connect and educate investors around the relevance and impact of SHAPE, and provide opportunities to invest in research-backed ventures from leading universities.

Read mnore aboiut this exciting initiative here.

Tony Walker is former Deputy Director of the Masood Enterprise Centre at Alliance MBS and is now Head of Hub, Northern Region (Innovate UK ICURe Programme).

In this wide ranging Q&A with Tony from 2020, we explore the benefits of developing entrepreneurial social scientists and commercialisation and some success stories based out of the university; how the Aspect network is benefitting Manchester’s work in this area; the work of the Masood Enterprise Centre; and, more specifically, Digital Futures and why work in this area is so important for social sciences.

The pandemic brought the spotlight to bear on the power of STEM research and researchers in responding to one of the greatest challenges of our generation. With governments looking to universities to generate research-intensive ventures to solve problems and power the next wave of economic growth, social sciences and humanities are entering the fray.

What do these emergent ventures look like? What problems are they solving and what do universities need to do to solve them? Deep-diving into the Aspect Research Commercialisation Community, this session in 2021 looked at the state of research commercialisation across the social sciences, arts and humanities and explores the learnings, barriers and priorities institutions have faced over the years, and importantly, what needs to be done moving forward.

Lead by Chris Fellingham, Director of the ARC Accelerator and then Social Sciences and Humanities Lead at Oxford University Innovations and with examples from panellists including James Kitson, Head of Commercialisation University of York, Annie Thirlwell, Research Enterprise Manager for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at The University of Sheffield and C. David Ai, Head of Innovation at London School of Economics and Political Science, this session examines the big picture of social science research commercialisation and delves into both expectations and practical steps for the future.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Object-oriented Interviews research method used by Jennifer Owen from Cardiff University. The image was created by Maddy Vain.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

The Aspect Student Accelerator Programme (ASAP) was the Aspect network’s flagship social sciences student and alumni business accelerator. Hosted by LSE, this four-month programme was designed to support and scale socially responsible student and alumni ventures.

This Social Business Model Innovation report explores how startups with a social science and impact driven foundation ideate and evolve their business models and how we can adapt to make future commercialisation programmes more effective for early stage social entrepreneurs.

In this episode of Inside the Founder’s Mind Palma is in conversation with Claire Monari, founder of Gaïa to discuss emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship. Emotional intelligence sits at the heart of well-functioning personal and business relationships and as our hosts point out, it is worth to consider developing it as a journey rather than as a set skill to acquire. Especially, as it all starts with self-awareness. During this session, you will hear about the challenges to increase self-awareness, some practical tips to deal with triggers and the underlying dangers in ignoring and externalising negative emotions. Purpose and emotional intelligence play an interconnected part in an entrepreneur’s life – so it is time to start bringing attention back to yourself, step by step.

Inside the Founder’s Mind is an Aspect produced podcast series that comprises a series of short insightful podcast episodes hosted by business leaders, psychologists and entrepreneurial students who explore in depth the entrepreneurial mindset and discuss key traits such as resilience, stamina and facing failure. The series aims to inform, inspire, and prepare early-stage innovators, preparing them for life as an entrepreneur.

The culmination of the 2020 SUCCESS Programme – the pitch day – took place on 9th November 2020. Here we hear from Cardiff University venture CIBiD, the only database of its kind that allows everyone to benefit from the Bitcoin data without requiring advanced level of IT skills

Social science is often connected with business and industry through policies or people. In the future there is potential for a full integration of social science commercialisation in society, with SHAPE and STEM working side-by-side and also in their own rights.

Chaired by Professor Jude Robinson (Professor in Health and Wellbeing at the Institute of Health and Wellbeing Social Sciences and Deputy Head of the College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow), and with thoughts from Dr Hamish McAlpine (Head of KE Data and Evidence UKRI), Rosalind Lowe (Head of Policy and Engagement NCUB), and Dr Mark Mann (Social Venture Lead & Innovation Lead for Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Oxford), this panel discussion from 2021 considers how social science can be fully intertwined into society, and what is being done or needs doing in order for social science not to be viewed as something different but as something integral by all.

The SHAPE Pre-Accelerator is an online programme that supports researchers from the Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts explore routes to generating sustainable impact at scale.

Aspect funded a Research Fellowship programme, through which three researchers joined Zinc’s in-house R&D team. The researchers worked hands-on with the entrepreneurs who were part of the mission, as well as with the Zinc team and network of experts. Their work with the entrepreneurs focused on translating and embedding existing research as well as facilitating the generation and dissemination of new evidence. They also worked to build a network of researchers across different institutions that are interested in specific problem areas, with a view to creating learning transfer opportunities.

This is a series of short case-study write ups by Rachel Carey from the Zinc programme team. These case studies demonstrate some of the partnerships between Zinc ventures and universities.

This time, we explore a part of the founder’s mind that creates and overcomes fear. More specifically, Palma and Ross founder of Jungle Brew and more recently NuMarket, embark on a journey to uncover where the boundary lies in a business context between the value of fear and the necessity to overcome it. They reassert the importance to evaluate the fear we experience by acknowledging and dissecting it and Ross shares his experience in overcoming his worries through letting his curiosity lead the way. The conversation also teases out why exuding confidence may not be enough in talking to investors and provides advice on how to train yourself the skill of balancing that ever so important curiosity with focused periods.

Inside the Founder’s Mind is an Aspect produced podcast series that comprises a series of short insightful podcast episodes hosted by business leaders, psychologists and entrepreneurial students who explore in depth the entrepreneurial mindset and discuss key traits such as resilience, stamina and facing failure. The series aims to inform, inspire, and prepare early-stage innovators, preparing them for life as an entrepreneur.

As part of the Aspect Festival 2020 this session will focussed on the Youth@Risk consortium at Sussex which is addressing the impact of COVID-19 on youth, and how to mobilise applied social science research in the development of social innovation and social enterprise based solutions.

Panel:

Alison Frater, Experienced Director of Public Health

John Strutton, Youth@Risk Partner, Institute for Community Safety

Dr Emmeline Taylor, Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise), City University

Professor Lorraine Gamman, Director, Design Against Crime Research Centre

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Oral Histories and Futures method used by Dr Sarah Marie Hall (The University of Manchester). The animation was created in collaboration with Tom Young.

Social scientists within the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations, were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

The Methods for Change (M4C) team delivered a session organised by Dr Temidayo Eseonu on Innovate UK funding, in particular, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) that link businesses, academics, and inspiring graduates and post-graduates. KTPs are typically used to support the application of innovative social science research and methods beyond academia. The session outlined for social scientists and collaborating organisations how Innovate UK funding may support their research, innovation and knowledge exchange agendas. In recent years, Innovate UK’s funding has been increasing, it is therefore timely for social sciences and humanities researchers to start to consider Innovate UK funding such as KTPs to support the development of impact from research

The FinTech Deep Dive project is one of four sector-specific reviews undertaken by Aspect’s Business Engagement Community of Practice (COP), which aim to explore and map out what good practice looks like for social sciences business engagement with these sectors.

This project was led by a team from the University of Bristol and the University of Glasgow. Interviews with FinTech start ups and scale ups highlighted companies often have good links with their local Unis and an awareness of the value of social sciences, but also face challenges in knowing how to access and get the most benefit from complex University systems.

ONLINE - Come join our launch event and learn more about the new ESRC/AHRC SHAPE Catalyst delivered by the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator!

This innovative catalyst commercialisation programme runs from 2023-2026 and is open to UK researchers from the social sciences, arts and humanities. It will support researchers within these disciplines to develop and bring new products, processes and services to market.

REGISTER HERE NOW

Ross and Palma return for round two to evaluate the changes the pandemic has presented for many entrepreneurs’ ability to manage work life balance and workflow. This episode will provide listeners with a fantastic array of tools and tricks to create boundaries when working from home and rediscover the creative energies we feel we may have lost in these past months. From the kinds of pressures we may face to making the most of our high performance zones, Palma inspires Ross to take his notebook out and reschedule all meetings scheduled after lunchtime. Why, you may wonder? So, it holds that 2:55 is the ultimate unproductive time to make big decisions – but it might also provide the potential for the best ideas to come to life. Go try it out yourselves after listening to this episode!

Inside the Founder’s Mind is an Aspect produced podcast series that comprises a series of short insightful podcast episodes hosted by business leaders, psychologists and entrepreneurial students who explore in depth the entrepreneurial mindset and discuss key traits such as resilience, stamina and facing failure. The series aims to inform, inspire, and prepare early-stage innovators, preparing them for life as an entrepreneur.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the key to economic growth: a loud refrain heard from all quarters in the UK these days. This event highlights how SMEs could be the key to sustaining the economy and our communities. We explore how we support and sustain SMEs and provide practical advice and insights on navigating the future.

In 2020 this event brought together a panel of speakers who are shaping and influencing policy insights, leading innovative initiatives to support SMEs and illuminating the crucial role that SME businesses have to play.

Panel:

Professor Kiran Trehan

Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of York, and President of the Institute for Small Business and Enterprise

Jordan Butcher

Sketch Creative

Andy Lee

Enterprise Team, Commercial & Private Banking, NatWest

Sue Jefferson

Founder & CEO, Possibilities Realised

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Change Points Toolkit: A method to design interventions that unlock sustainable practices developed by Claire Hoolohan and Ali Browne from The University of Manchester, Matt Watson from the University of Sheffield and the wider Change Points team. The films were created in collaboration with Chris Murray, More Than Minutes.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

The Business Engagement COP have led a series of Aspect-funded projects focused on developing good practice in and exploring challenges related to industry and academic engagement in social sciences. While there are a breadth of industries where social sciences (SocSci) can add value, four sectors were chosen as focus points for ‘deep dives’: Creative Industries, FinTech, Legal Tech, and Health Tech.

The Creative Industries ‘deep dives’ (University of Manchester & University of York) is an investigation into activities between social science academics and the creative industries in the Northwest of England to highlight a plethora of activity in this area. The creative industries overall report a value in engaging with academics due to mutual interests and benefits.

In May 2021, the Methods for Change Showcase event invited social sciences postgraduate researchers from the Aspect network to contribute to an online Poster Gallery. In this article, six postgraduate researchers profiled in the gallery reflect on their experiences of collaborating with Methods for Change creatives to communicate their methods in thought-provoking ways:

Chantal V. Bright, Poppy Budworth, Heather Miles, Sawyer Phinney, Juliet Ye; supported by Laura Pottinger on behalf of the Methods for Change Team.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

In this episode, The Power of Social Business - Scaling for Business and Impact, Founder and CEO Sharath Jeevan talks to Kajal Sanghrajka about his social enterprise STiR Education. Sharath is an award-winning social entrepreneur, who started STiR in 2012 with the aim of providing lifelong learning for 10 million teachers and 300 million children. He dives into his journey at STiR, and we focus on his ideas regarding scaling for impact and going back to the basics to solve problems. Sharath has infinite wisdom not only regarding the business journey but also in developing as a leader and founder.

The Power of Social Business was produced as part of the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice and is a podcast that focuses on the unique journey of social entrepreneurs and the evolution of their businesses. We delve into how they designed and scaled their startups uniquely for purpose and profit, how they integrate social science research, their wider impact, and the advice they would give to early-stage social venture founders and the universities that support them.

Over the course of the pandemic many people were forced to be more entrepreneurial. The way we work, the way we communicate and the way we develop ideas changed. At the same time, the pandemic brought entrepreneurship to the forefront in other ways, with carbon footprint, healthy eating, well-being and many more areas having a spotlight shone on them and providing more opportunities for innovative ideas and solutions to flourish.

But how do we give entrepreneurial ideas the tools and guidance they need to succeed? How do we stimulate the pipeline of entrepreneurial talent both at and coming out of universities, and how do we provide the best chances for success in not only levelling-up but scaling-up?

Led by Tony Walker (Deputy Director of the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre at the University of Manchester), and joined by Kajal Sanghrajka (Founder and Director, Growth Hub Global), Chris Fellingham (Director of the ARC Accelerator and Social Sciences and Humanities Lead at Oxford University Innovations) and Rachel Middlemass (Head of Research and Development Partnerships, Zinc), this 2021 session looked across the Aspect communities to consider what is unique about social science ventures and how to best support them.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Change Points Toolkit: A method to design interventions that unlock sustainable practices developed by Claire Hoolohan and Ali Browne from The University of Manchester, Matt Watson from the University of Sheffield and the wider Change Points team. The films were created in collaboration with Chris Murray, More Than Minutes.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

Funded by Aspect, ABaCuSS is designed to inspire innovation through collaboration between business and PhD researchers in social science. The programme aims to accelerate solutions to social challenges for businesses, and provide a platform to transform the contribution that social sciences research can make to society.

Through this project, links and relationships between Aspect and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in middle income countries (MICs) are being established. The project is successfully delivering online training to the Aspect Faculty (Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and Knowledge Exchange professionals) about how to engage with international development activity.

In this episode of The Power of Social Business - Leading with Purpose, Founder and CEO Bryan Janeczko talks to Kajal Sanghrajka about his business journey with Nunbelievable- the purpose-driven baked goods company. He dives into his journey at Nunbelievable, and we focus on his formula of purpose-led leadership, social business model innovation, and how one can leverage this to drive exceptional commercial results. Bryan lives and breathes his mission in business and in life and is full of practical wisdom for early-stage founders.

The Power of Social Business was produced as part of the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice and is a podcast that focuses on the unique journey of social entrepreneurs and the evolution of their businesses. We delve into how they designed and scaled their startups uniquely for purpose and profit, how they integrate social science research, their wider impact, and the advice they would give to early-stage social venture founders and the universities that support them.

This film outlines the Geographical Biographies research method used by Cheryl McGeachan from the University of Glasgow. The film was created in collaboration with Alastair Lomas, The University of Manchester.

2020 SUCCESS cohort member, Dr Andrew McGonigle (University of Sheffield) developed technology to get inside volvanoes. Here he tells us more as part of the SUCCESS Pitch day event.

The Aspect Research Commercialisation Community of Practice (CoP) seeks to share best practices, find opportunities for shared activities and identify and test new and experimental models for commercialising social science research.

In 2021 the CoP hosted a workshop series on stimulating the pipeline for social science research commercialisation, the outputs from which are reported here.

We anticipate the learnings to be informative for practitioners who are involved in Research Commercialisation activity within their organisation, in particular representatives from Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs).

We caught up with Liam O’Hare, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Effective Education, Queen’s University Belfast, and part of STRIDE Consultants, STRIDE supports corporate organisations in their corporate social responsibility (CSR) work by helping them design and evaluate social impact programmes.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021.

In this episode of The Power of Social Business - customer discovery and data as your superpowers, Founder and CEO Tarig Hilal talks to Kajal Sanghrajka about his company Moja. Moja’s pooling lending app was developed directly from customer data. We dive into how Tarig leveraged data from the early stages of his business to create a competitive advantage and how he sees technology, data, and research driving value, growth, and future products. Tarig is a deep thinker and a pioneer in the field. He has a wide array of resources for early-stage entrepreneurs to absorb from his journey with Moja.

The Power of Social Business was produced as part of the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice and is a podcast that focuses on the unique journey of social entrepreneurs and the evolution of their businesses. We delve into how they designed and scaled their startups uniquely for purpose and profit, how they integrate social science research, their wider impact, and the advice they would give to early-stage social venture founders and the universities that support them.

Early-stage start-ups represent fertile testing ground for applications of, and contributions to, social science research. This session from the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series focussed on the ways in which social science research skills are relevant and valuable to start-ups – with reflections from social scientists playing prominent roles in start-ups, and discussion about the transition from academia to industry, with particular focus on guidance for early career researchers.

Panelists

Anja Maerz, Lead User Researcher at Babylon Health

Andre Richter, Senior Data Scientist at Just Eat

Anna Hushlak, Chief Product Officer at Ferly

John Blythe, Head of Behavioural Science at Cybsafe

In 2021 the Aspect Research Commercialisation Community was joined by creative facilitator Andrew Westle to brainstorm and workshop the learnings gained by the community from over the last three years of activity.

Andrew’s work defies neat boundaries to include research, socially engaged arts practice, performance, evaluation, writing, theatre making and public health. His work often questions the status quo, creating spaces for challenging conversations where ideas inspire dialogue, action and engagement.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Life Mapping research method used by Elisabeth Garratt, from the University of Sheffield and Jan Flaherty, from Kings College London. The image was created in collaboration with India Joseph, Moon and Moth Studio.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

In 2021 the Aspect Student Accelerator Programme (ASAP) Club hosted this webinar discussion brining together enterpreneurs from around the world.

The ASAP Club aimed to establish a digital support structure for applicants who apply for social sciences and/or social-impact accelerators but don’t reach the final cohort selection so that they receive the sufficient information and encouragement to continue and indeed excel in their entrepreneurial journey.

In this episode of The Power of Social Business, Co-founders Amber Probyn and Hazel McShane talk to Kajal Sanghrajka about their company Peequal. Their pioneering design of women’s urinals champions the agenda of gender equality, which is a crucial Sustainable Development Goal proposed by the United Nations. Peequal has been featured widely across global media outlets. Armed with ambition and brilliant ideas, Amber and Hazel reveal how their personal experiences drove them to create this innovative and solution-oriented product.

The Power of Social Business was produced as part of the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice and is a podcast that focuses on the unique journey of social entrepreneurs and the evolution of their businesses. We delve into how they designed and scaled their startups uniquely for purpose and profit, how they integrate social science research, their wider impact, and the advice they would give to early-stage social venture founders and the universities that support them.

On the 30th April, our Success Programme benefitted from a fascinating workshop on social technology.

As part of this, Hello Lamp Post’s Tiernan Mines spoke about the importance of making sure purpose remains high on the agenda and aligns with profits, to achieve longevity – not only with regards to the overall impact of a venture, but also in terms of attracting customers, talent and investors.

Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation (KEC) is an integral part of most universities and aims to share the knowledge, evidence and expertise generated by the university with the wider world. KEC can provide huge benefits to the university (impact, revenue, prestige) but, prior to Aspect, very little attention was given to social sciences research commercialisation and the associated ecosystem. In this session we discuss how the traditional KEC process can be developed into a framework that suits social sciences research and how to practically implement that framework.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Social science commercialisation 101, which took place on the 9th September – explored how the traditional Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation (KEC) process can be developed into a framework that suits social sciences research and how to practically implement that framework.

Panel members

• Horatio Mortimer (Chair) – Business Innovation Manager, LSE

• Morven Fraser-Walther – IP & Innovation Manager, University of Glasgow

• Dr Nick Bourne – Deputy Director, Head of Commercial Development, Cardiff University

• David Ai – Head of Innovation, LSE

Lawrence Barsalou is a professor of Psychology at The University of Glasgow, we chat with him to learn more about his venture, SITUATE, which assesses health behaviours like stress and creates strategies to help manage them.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021.

Generation Purple is a new venture, seeking to enhance diversity in graduate recruitment through digital initiatives.

This case study is from the University of Manchester, and is part of a series produced by the Aspect Ecosystem Mapping Project. The project, part of the Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, aims to share examples of best practice and showcase exceptional stories of innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation in the social sciences from each of the participating universities.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – COVID-19 and the healthy ageing challenge, which took place on the 7th October – focused on the UK Industrial Strategy Theme of Healthy Ageing, an issue that is particularly important in the context of COVID-19. This included lessons from Digital Access, the UKRI Healthy Ageing network and University of Sussex Healthy Ageing Challenge.

Panel members

• Dr Tim Pascoe (Chair) – Director, CICUK and Director, DICE Consortium

• Dr Rotem Perach – Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sussex

• Sodi Kakouris – E-Learning Development Officer, Help The Ageing, The Highlands Third Sector Partnership

• Dr Emma Derbyshire – Immunonutritionist, Nutritional Insight

• Dr Ben Hicks – Research Fellow, Centre for Dementia Studies

EQUAL-Futures aims to help institutions and organisations to have a more gender inclusive environment. We chat with the founder, Roberta Guerrina from the University of Bristol, to find out more.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021.

Are you wiondering about how to come up with topics for a group discussion? Why not try starting with an unconference?

At this unconference held as part of the Aspect Festival21 attendees were invited to join the Business Engagement Community panellists and project members in this interactive networking session to gather a shortlist of topics that participants were keen to explore further in smaller discussion groups.

As an approach this can be a useful tool in engaging your community with what they want to talk about.

The Aspect  Business Engagement COP  have led a series of Aspect-funded projects focused on developing good practice in and exploring challenges related to industry and academic engagement in social sciences. These included four sector deep dives, two ‘challenge workshops’, and the BE Ideas Box Pilot Project.

On 12th May 2021, The Methods for Change Showcase Event brought together academic contributors from the Methods for Change project with professionals from policy, charity, business, and creative sectors. The day began with the ‘Creative Methods Zoo’, chaired by Dr Laura Pottinger and co-hosted by Jennie Middleton (University of Oxford), Sawyer Phinney, Penny Tinkler and Stephanie Sodero (The University of Manchester).

Here we join Heather Miles from The University of Manchester reflecting On the Creative Methods Zoo question “If your research method were an animal, what would it be?”

On 2nd March 2021, the Aspect Student Accelerator Programme (ASAP) team hosted a webinar to share insights and learnings on various aspects of running the multi-institution programme, including: how the accelerator structure and curriculum were adapted for social entrepreneurs, and the value of social science research to early and later stage social entrepreneurs.

Panel:

Caroline Mei – Community and Operations Lead

Kiran Arokiasamy – Programming Lead

Alejandro Serrano Saunders – ASAP Cohort Founder, I Speak Mental Health

Kajal Sanghrajka (Moderator) – ASAP Advisor

The SUCCESS programme (now ARC) helped social scientists transform innovative and marketable ideas into a business or social enterprise.

We caught up with Dr Elitsa Garnizova, Lead at the Trade Policy Hub at The London School of Economics and Political Science.

We were keen to find out more about her and her ambitious project, and what she hopes to get out of the programme.

SUCCESS was rebranded as the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, and is currently running the SHAPE Catalyst in partnership with ESCR and AHRC. More details of ARC can be found here.

In a knowledge sharing Q&A session led by the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, representatives from Social Shifters and CEIS presented the programme’s offerings and notable features. These features are highlighted in this article.

Social Shifters is a UK non-profit that supports a global community of young mission-driven innovators to tackle social and environmental challenges.

Thinking about running a workshop?

The highly successful Methods for Change project brought together social scientists from across the Aspect network to discuss the research methods they use, how methods create change in society and produce a series of ‘how-to guides. With accompanying outputs created in collaboration with artists, filmmakers and illustrators, many of the methods built on ideas around the generating engagement , gathering of stories, and the value of game playing. In this fun and interactive training session the Methods for Change team join the multi-award-winning improvised comedy group Do Not Adjust Your Stage (DNAYS). The session focused on developing improv and comedy skills that we hope will lead to new professional and multidisciplinary understandings around communication and listening.

Join one of our application workshops and find out how to apply to the new £3.9 million ESRC/AHRC SHAPE Catalyst delivered by the ARC Accelerator!

In these brief, virtual sessions, we will walk you through the application process, tell you what we are looking for and explain how applications will be assessed. There is also time for a Q&A, where we will answer any open questions related to the new SHAPE Catalyst.

Register here

This collaborative piece of research from the Royal College of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University and Cranfield University, looks at the possibilities for establishing state-of-the-art skills levels held by machinists in the UK garment industry. In doing so this scoping study aims to create a vision of a digitised fashion industry in which garment manufacturers collaborate with robotic technologies and digital twin technologies to consider scale and agility of production and prototyping, whilst also considering meaningful employment and upskilling of workforces.

Aspect members have been interested in exploring how intrapreneurship programmes might be tailored for social scientists, as an alternative pathway to developing students’ entrepreneurial skills.

To explore these questions further, the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice (CoP) commissioned an exploratory study of intrapreneurship in the social sciences. The following write-up provides a brief overview of: what is intrapreneurship, how popular is the term, why is it important, and a few examples of university intrapreneurship programmes in the UK and US.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – The future of social science commercialisation, which took place on the 28th October that year– explored where the biggest opportunities lie for the commercialisation of social sciences, how academia and industry can look to take advantage, and Aspect’s future plans in terms of driving and supporting social science commercialisation.

This short video shows some of the highlights of that session.

Panel members:

• Professor Julia Black (Chair) – Strategic Director of Innovation and Professor of Law at the LSE, and Chair of the Aspect Steering Group

• Melanie Knetsch – Deputy Director, Innovation and Impact, ESRC:UKRI

• Ian Tracey – Co-Founder, Anchored In

• Vikas Shah MBE – CEO, Swiscot Group and Honorary Professor of Business, University of Manchester

During the 2023 UIIN Conference, the team at UIIN had a captivating conversation with Roberta Malee Bassett, Global Lead for Tertiary Education at the World Bank. They delved into the crucial role of education in driving global development and the World Bank’s endeavors in promoting educational equity worldwide.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

The development of social science research commercialisation services, including student entrepreneurship and business engagement, is driven by the ability to enable and sustain impact, yet achieving this across academic institutions with varying characteristics and resources is often fraught with complexity and non-obvious opportunities can be missed. How can different parts of the research commercialisation ecosystem come together to address these gaps? Join us for the Aspect Festival21 screening as we traverse the Aspect communities to identify innovative ways for higher educational institutions to set up their offering and structure support services; from ideation through to partnership engagement and venture launch.

Chaired by David Coombe, Director of LSE Research and Innovation at the London School of Economics and Political Science, with presentations from Leah Thompson (Senior Knowledge Exchange Officer, University of Oxford) on behalf of the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community, David Ai (Head of Innovation at London School of Economics and Political Science) on behalf of the Aspect Research Commercialisation Community, and Chris Hewson (Social Sciences Research Impact Manager, University of York) on behalf of the Aspect Business Engagement Community, this session draws on the insights gained over the previous three years of Aspect-funded projects to deconstruct what ’support’ means in our modern, fast-changing environment.

ONLINE - Are you part of an Aspect member organisation? Then be sure to join us via the Aspect Members Platformfor the June Forum showcasing updates from collaborative projects.

This video illlustrates the ‘how to’ guide outlines the Designs for Addressing Racial inEqualities (DARE) research method used by Dr Temidayo Eseonu from Lancaster University. The artwork was created in collaboration with Caroline Boyd, Boy Oh Boy Designs.

The ‘how to’ guide connected with this video can be found here.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

The Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Map was created as part Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Mapping Project undertaken by the Entrepreneurship Community of Practice.

Drawing on the wealth of entrepreneurial activities and opportunities that exist across the Aspect network, this project aimed to identify and ‘map’ the entrepreneurship offerings at member institutions.

What is fintech, why is it important and how can fintech be a good practice example for university-business engagement?

This short video from the Aspect Festival 2020 shows the highlights of a session addressing this question.

Panel members

• Dr Ruth Welters – Business Engagement Coordinator, University of Bristol

• Professor Jon Beaverstock – Professor of International Management, University of Bristol

• Stuart Harrison – Founder and Co-Director, FinTech West

During the 2023 UIIN Conference in Budapest, UIIN spoke with Monroe France, Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice at Tufts University, about how to champion the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across all levels of an institution, including in strategic partnerships approaches.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

The work of research institutions, academics and businesses often involves collecting, analysing and publishing third-party data. Whether you are working with big data sets from databases or small datasets from websites, personalised data, anonymised data or publicly available data – there are laws that regulate its use by a third-party. Understanding data regulations (even if just for research use) can be complex but this strategic session aims to outline the risks, opportunities and challenges that researchers and businesses encounter when managing data. It provides professionals involved in research and commercialisation activities with practical information to help you use third-party data lawfully, and to protect your intellectual output.

This webinar from the Aspect Festival in 2020 explores these themes.

Panel members

• Sarah Macnaughton (Chair) – Operations Director, Oxentia Ltd
• Hugh Tebay – Partner, Taylor Vinters
• James Boyle – Senior Associate, Taylor Vinters
• Geraldine Wildman – Data Licensing and Delivery Lead, British Geological Survey
• Dr Martin Husovec – Assistant Professor of Law, Department of Law, LSE

In July 2020, a new Aspect funded project was launched, on the commercialisation of educational games produced within the world of social sciences.

The initiative was led by Manchester University, with Nottingham Trent, Bristol, and Glasgow as partners. The aim was to increase understanding and experience in finding pathways to marketing games, ultimately enabling universities to tap into what is, at present, an under-used reservoir of potential. The project continues today under the name the Games Hub, led by the University of Glasgow.

We talk to Michael Bruter, from the London School of Economics and Political Science, about his venture tackling the lack of understanding of public opinion in electoral processes.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

ONLINE - A TCCE Knowledge Exchange and Impact Forum event co-devised and co-hosted with Kingston School of Art, Kingston University

In this session, we will consider what is meant by ‘commercialisation’ and how this aligns with the understandings and value systems of academics working across Arts and Humanities disciplines. We will debate the benefits and challenges of commercialisation in these disciplines, share examples of good practice, and consider issues of skills, capacity, expertise, engagement, and language.

REGISTER NOW HERE

As part of the  British Academy’s Leaders in SHAPE series, Director of the V&A and former Labour MP Tristram Hunt joins Conor Gearty to discuss his life and career.

You can find out more about the British Academy’s wonderful work in SHAPE here.

Chris Fellingham, then Head of the SUCCESS Programme which is now the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator of which he is Director, shares his reflections on the insights gained through the initiative.

Ti Xu, from Cibus Health, gave a talk to our SUCCESS Programme (which subsequently became the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator) in which he outlined a two-stage process that ventures need to undertake to effectively identify and then filter needs and ideas. The first stage involves navigating the needs landscape to search for the ‘global minima’ – the most compelling needs.

In this rapidly changing world, there is an increased recognition that higher education institutions across the globe should enhance their contribution to society. For universities, it has therefore become crucial to find the most effective ways to capture and communicate the impact that they make. However, it is a very complex exercise that requires a holistic approach to performance management, and many factors and types of indicators must be considered. In today’s episode, UIIN have invited Rosie Lavis (UKRI), Johan Kostela (Dalarna University), Joanne Curry (Simon Fraser University) and Isabel Roessler (CHE Centre for Higher Education) to discuss different frameworks and approaches to effective engagement impact evaluation.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

This is a write up of the knowledge sharing Q&A session held by the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice on 8 February 2021.

The session aimed to develop a working definition of social entrepreneurship and discuss the particular challenges faced by social science students in their prospective path to entrepreneurship. The session asked members to develop ideas for resources that would benefit those who seek to support social science entrepreneurship in the wider entrepreneurship ecosystem, and outlined research-based vs. action-oriented methods to developing these.

Understanding the role of language is imperative in reaching and supporting social science entrepreneurs, particularly in engaging underrepresented groups. This important topic was discussed in a knowledge sharing Q&A session held by the University of Sussex entitled ‘The Language of Entrepreneurship’ as part of the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice.

Hosted by Luke Mitchell, University of Sussex, participants Wen Che, LSE School of Public Policy, and Emily Bohobo N’Dombaxe Dola, University of Sussex School of Global Studies, explored how universities are uniquely placed to transform the discourse surrounding entrepreneurship and shape entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Ruth Daniel, CEO of In Place of War, a venture from the Aspect member the University of Manchester, highlights the different potential sources of funding available to researchers interested in setting-up ventures.

As part of the British Academy’s Leaders in SHAPE series, bestselling writer and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project Laura Bates joins Conor Gearty to discuss her life and career.

You can find out more about the British Academy’s wonderful work in SHAPE here.

Aspect Festival21 was our previous online celebration of members of the Aspect Community, thnis short video provides a recap of that event.

As Aspect 1.0 came to a close, we shared our Learning Gain report 2021, bringing together three years of insight and good practice on behalf of the Aspect Network members. In this report we focus on the insights gained across the programme, addressing the questions our proposal asked when we submitted it to Research England answering the first Connecting Capability Fund call. That proposal highlighted the challenges of improving academic engagement, building industry engagement, and improving institutional capacity and skills within the Aspect’s members and more widely. Since joining the network, the majority of members have seen increased awareness and activity from their academics interested in pursuing social sciences innovation, with just under half of all members reporting increased innovation pipelines.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Critical Spatial Data Science research method used by Dr Caitlin Robinson from the University of Bristol. The artwork was created in collaboration with Jack Brougham.

What vestigial structures are standing in the way of creating a more learner-oriented institution? Dr. Cameron McCoy (Provost of Shenandoah University) joined UIIN at their Future of Universities Fireside Chat to rethink the design of education and carve a pathway forward to meet the needs of the future student.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

In this session from the Aspect festival21, we joined the ARC team to learn more about their projects, what they’ve been up to, and how they feel SHAPE commercialisation can move forward.

On February 17th 2021 we brought together a panel of leading voices in social science commercialisation to explore how its successes can be measured.

The measurement of research impact and commercialisation activity is a live issue across the board. This debate is particularly complex for the social sciences, which have traditionally been assessed in terms of their social impact – however, measuring success here needs to go much wider and be far more nuanced than this.

With the currently used metrics arguably being more aligned with STEM rather than social sciences subjects, how can we seek to capture the value of social sciences commercialisation activity in a relevant and accurate way?

In a 1 hour knowledge-sharing discussion the panellists explored why a different approach to measurement is so important for the social sciences, the range of metrics that might be used to evaluate commercialisation in this area and what difference this could make to those who are seeking to demonstrate the value of social science commercialisation.

This is a detailed report available to Aspect members about Zinc’s offerings of the Aspect-funded Innovation Internships scheme that supports students from both disciplines, SHAPE and STEM, for three-month placements outside academia, with mission-focused start-ups to gain commercial experience.

The Business Engagement COP led a series of Aspect-funded projects focused on developing good practice in and exploring challenges related to industry and academic engagement in social sciences. While there are a breadth of industries where social sciences (SocSci) can add value, four sectors were chosen as focus points for ‘deep dives’: Creative Industries, FinTech, Legal Tech, and Health Tech.

As part of the British Academy’s Leaders in SHAPE series, award-winning author, academic and barrister Philippe Sands joins Conor Gearty to discuss his life and career.

You can find out more about the British Academy’s wonderful work in SHAPE here.

On the 30th April 2020, our Success (ARC) programme benefitted from a fascinating workshop on social technology.

Anne Radl and Kathy Marcham from the Social Tech Trust talked about the work they do in terms of nurturing and investing in tech ventures with a mission to improve society. Tiernan Mines of Hello Lamp Post – an innovative social tech enterprise – then talked about his journey so far and the support he’s received to guide the development of his venture.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Photo go-along method used by Dr Amy Barron from the University of Manchester. The video was created by Amy and Joe Blakey, with the voiceover provided by Jonathan Wakeford.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

The Research Commercialisation project has developed good, innovative and effective practice for the commercialisation of social sciences research. On this page you will find a range of bespoke tools for evaluating, supporting, developing and valuing social science opportunities.

Join one of our application workshops and find out how to apply to the new £3.9 million ESRC/AHRC SHAPE Catalyst delivered by the ARC Accelerator!

We will walk you through the application process, tell you what we are looking for and explain how applications will be assessed. There is also time for a Q&A, where we will answer any open questions related to the new SHAPE Catalyst.

The SHAPE Catalyst runs from 2023-2026 and is open to UK researchers from the social sciences, arts and humanities. It supports researchers within these disciplines to develop and bring new products, processes and services to market.

Learn more about the programme and the ARC Accelerator, an Aspect project, on the ARC website: www.arcaccelerator.io

REGISTER FOR THE WORKSHOP HERE.

The Aspect Student Accelerator Programme (ASAP) was a flagship four-month social sciences student and alumni accelerator hosted by LSE to support and scale socially-responsible student and alumni ventures. ASAP was the first joint university accelerator of its kind in Europe – the programme was tailored specifically towards driving social change through entrepreneurship.

Nineteen UK selected university student and alumni enterprises, all of whom solving pressing socio-economic and environmental issues,collaborated and developed their businesses over a four-month period. Here are links to 2021 outputs.

Today’s episode is the second and last part of our conversation with Gregory Harper (Business Development Director at the University of Melbourne), Cindy Mahler (Director of University Innovation at Boeing), and Brandon Schneider (Manager of Project Affairs at University of California, Berkeley). Continuing the discussion from the previous episode, guests share insights around transforming personal relationships into strategic ones, different tracking systems they use, and some tips on what to focus when setting up an external engagement unit.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Graphic Interviews: Graphic Elicitation and Sketch Reportage research method used by Nik Brown and Christina Buse from the University of York. The film was created in collaboration with Chris Stewart.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

As part of Aspect Festival21 we caught up with architect Madeleine Kessler about her work and the commission for the British Pavilion which engages with the current on-going debate around ownership and public space.

These case studies were drawn from across members of the Aspect Network to highlight just some of the innovative ventures being produced at these universities. Looking across a variety of sectors including Healthcare, Information & Communication and Leisure & Tourism, these case studies show the route to market for each venture; the impact they had and continue to have; key learnings gained in their journey, and insights and advice from those who developed them.

Engagement with the business sector can add real strength to social sciences research activity, and deliver significant, measurable and sustainable impact. However, the path from research, through engagement and partnership building, to the development and exploitation of commercialisation opportunities, contains many obstacles.

This piece of work takes, as a starting point, the idea that underlying these issues are questions of how, at an institutional level, research development integrates with other knowledge exchange functions.

Meet the most influential figures within and beyond academia shaping the fields of social sciences, humanities and the arts.

As part of the British Academy’s Leaders in SHAPE series, literary biographer and academic Hermione Lee joins Conor Gearty to discuss her work and latest book Tom Stoppard: A Life.

You can find out more about the British Academy’s wonderful work in SHAPE here.

On 21st May 2020, Ruth Daniel, CEO of In Place of War, gave a talk to our SUCCESS (ARC) programme.

In Place of War is a global organisation that uses creativity in places of conflict as a tool for positive change. They enable grassroots change-makers in music, theatre and across the arts to transform a culture of violence and suffering into hope, opportunity and freedom. They were a spinout from the University of Manchester and have operated in over 26 countries.

The session provided many practical insights into how to start and grow a social enterprise. Here we share a few of the highlights from Ruth’s talk.

SUCCESS (ARC) project profile 2020: Care Quality Evaluation (CQE) CQE is a digital platform that will empower patients, healthcare professional teams, healthcare managers and healthcare commissioners to better manage, improve, and cost effectively monitor long-term conditions at a population level using individual patient level data. Connecting individual patient outcomes to the economic productivity and social impact of care management on the population suffering from chronic lifelong conditions for the first time, it will realise a multiplication effect at population level from delivering small incremental differences for individual patients.

In 2022, the University of Bristol developed and created a Translational Impact Hub that supports academics accelerating their research impact.

The Hub is managed and led by a team that consists of experienced individuals with expertise in different areas such as commercialisation, impact development policy and KTP. The Hub is designed to be a go-to place for academics that have potential impactful research projects that require a more holistic support approach.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines Playing Games as Method used by Ralitsa Hiteva from the University of Sussex. The image was created in collaboration with Maddy Vian.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

Today’s episode is the third and final part of the discussion with Marguerite Evans-Galea (Women in STEMM Australia), Jetty van Ginkel (Care for Impact) and Chris Fellingham (Oxford University Innovations). Make sure to listen to the first and second parts of this conversation which can be found in the archive!

Building on the previous discussion, our speakers address the importance of impact in research and the role collaboration plays, as well as some of the differences between research valorisation in STEM and in Social Sciences.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

The Self-Isolation Choir is an online choral project set up by Mark Strachan and directed by Ben England, a graduate of Aspect Member Bristol University who was recently awarded the British Empire Medal by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to choral singing during the pandemic. The Self Isolation Choir was formed in response to the global impact of the Coronavirus. Singers from around the world can join and take part in the events and activities organised by the choir from their own home. The choir has grown to 12,000 strong with members collaborating on performances from around the globe, making it one of the largest choirs on the planet.

Their inaugural project Messiah at Home was produced with some of the world’s greatest musicians including Laurence Cummings, Carolyn Sampson and Jennifer Johnstone and gained international attention. Messiah at Home was featured on the national BBC Evening News, all the BBC radio stations, NHK (Japan) CBS (USA) and many more – and has become part of the official Wikipedia entry for Messiah. Today, we hear an anniversary rendition of Messiah with a special introduction by Mark and Ben discussing how an entrepreneurial approach reinvigorated a traditional way of operating, and their ambitions to bring the social cohesion created by singing into universities world-wide.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Building back better: Bridging the gaps in the green economy, which took place on the 27th October 2020– explored whether the impact of COVID-19 on the transition to a green economy cause it to accelerate or stall. We heard from some innovative social scientists as well as people from industry who are looking at creating new organisations that bridge key gaps in the economic and financial structures needed to build back better.

• Horatio Mortimer (Chair) – Business Innovation Manager, LSE
• Michal Nachmany – Policy Fellow, Grantham Research Institute, LSE
• Nick Robins – Professor in Practice, Grantham Research Institute, LSE
• Adam Parr – Businessman and former chairman and chief executive of the Williams Formula One team

We are delighted to present the online event “Innovation Funding Opportunities for the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities” as part of the Aspect Festival 23.

Join us as we bring together experts from the ESRC, AHRC, Innovate UK, Innovation Caucus, Zinc and the ARC Accelerator to present the funding landscape for researchers interested in innovation and commercialisation.

We have a fantastic line-up of speakers who will be sharing their insights and will be available for Q&A after the session.

Charis Cook - Senior Portfolio Manager - [SHAPE Catalyst programme], UKRI ESRC

Chris Fellingham - Co-founder and Director of the ARC Accelerator

Gerry O’Hagan - Knowledge Transfer Adviser [KTP’s], Innovate UK KTN | UKRI

Huw Vasey - Strategic Lead: Innovation, Business Engagement and Commercialisation, ESRC | UKRI

Luke Bevan - Senior Associate, Zinc VC

Rayner Lim - Commercialisation Programmes Support Manager (Lead- ICURe), Innovate UK | UKRI

Sam McGregor - Head of AI & Design, AHRC Strategic Lead for KE, Translation & Commercialisation, AHRC | UKRI

Tim Vorley – Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean, Oxford Brookes Business School, Lead of the Innovation and Research Caucus

Due to the funding opportunities available, this event is aimed at fixed-term researchers, established researchers and research administration support.

REGISTER NOW HERE

In this blog the Methods for Change team reflect on two interactive sessions on spatial, qualitative, and mixed methods convened as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022. The sessions aimed to platform innovative approaches in the social sciences and to initiate new dialogue between academics, policy makers, government advisors, NGOs, businesses, and charities.

Join one of the application workshops and find out how to apply to the new £3.9 million ESRC/AHRC SHAPE Catalyst delivered by the ARC Accelerator!

We will walk you through the application process, tell you what we are looking for and explain how applications will be assessed. There is also time for a Q&A, where we will answer any open questions related to the new SHAPE Catalyst.

The SHAPE Catalyst runs from 2023-2026 and is open to UK researchers from the social sciences, arts and humanities. It supports researchers within these disciplines to develop and bring new products, processes and services to market.

Learn more about the programme and the ARC Accelerator, an Aspect project, on the ARC website: www.arcaccelerator.io

REGISTER HERE

This deep dive from the Aspect Business Engagment CoP was a review of engagement and collaboration between law and industry at LSE and at the University of Manchester. Discussions in this deep dive highlighted different approaches at both LSE and Manchester, and perceptions about the value to universities, academics, and law firms. Photo by Clement Nivesse from Pexels.

For this episode, we have invited Gregory Harper (Business Development Director at the University of Melbourne), Cindy Mahler (Director of University Innovation at Boeing) and Brandon Schneider (Manager of Project Affairs at University of California, Berkeley), to provide their insights into different ways of structuring external engagement units.

They will share their experiences, including common practices and strategies that they apply within their organisations to engage with external stakeholders, and specifically those related to structuring the units dedicated to engagement and partnering. This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – How to train social science researchers to become consultants, which took place on the 8th October – focused on The University of Sussex’s programme which aims to upskill academics with no or limited consultancy experience to develop their careers as consultants.

On 21st May 2020, Ruth Daniel, CEO of In Place of War, gave a talk to our SUCCESS (ARC) programme.

In Place of War is a global organisation that uses creativity in places of conflict as a tool for positive change. They enable grassroots change-makers in music, theatre and across the arts to transform a culture of violence and suffering into hope, opportunity and freedom. They were a spinout from the University of Manchester and have operated in over 26 countries.

The session provided many practical insights into how to start and grow a social enterprise. Here we share a few of the highlights from Ruth’s talk.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Engaged Capacity-building Workshops research method used by Megan Blake from the University of Sheffield. The image was created in collaboration with More than Minutes. Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

We spoke with Jo Deakin from the University of Manchester to learn more about So What App-ens Next (working title) which is an app supporting young people in the transition from care to independent living.

On the 30th April 2020, our Success (ARC) programme benefitted from a fascinating workshop on social technology.

Anne Radl and Kathy Marcham from the Social Tech Trust talked about the work they do in terms of nurturing and investing in tech ventures with a mission to improve society. Tiernan Mines of Hello Lamp Post – an innovative social tech enterprise – then talked about his journey so far and the support he’s received to guide the development of his venture.

SUCCESS (ARC) project profile 2020: Keep•It•Human: We spoke to Ricardo Climent – Professor of Interactive Music, University of Manchester, and Founder of Keep•It•Human. KiH is a Game Ecosystem for Digital Altruism. We add music and fun to the philanthropic giving experience to connect a new generation of people with the ownership of social challenges. Our core mission is to remind people what makes us human and that in the digital worldwe may be incorporeal or re-embodied but still humans who care for each other, so promoting philanthropy.

The Aspect BE CoP commissioned this small independent review to explore how CoP members are addressing issues of equality, diversity and inclusion in social sciences business engagement.

On Wednesday 12th of May 2021, the Methods for Change Showcase event, hosted by the University of Manchester and led and organised by the Methods for Change team, engaged participants with interactive sessions which centralised the importance of social science methods for transformative change.

Here we join Lauren White, an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield, to reflect upon the role of creativity, fun, and collaboration with a strong reminder of the role of these as a form of listening and of care, especially when researching societal change and structural inequalities.

In this new series, we will focus on Research Valorisation, Commercialisation & Technology Transfer. Higher education institutions are key knowledge creators, however, too often the valuable insights and competences developed within these institutions do not reach beyond the confines of academia. Addressing the needs of non-academic stakeholders, as direct beneficiaries of research outcomes, can aid in tackling relevant local, regional and global challenges and create greater societal impact. For this episode, facilitated by Sarah Jaber, Manager Business Development at UIIN, we have invited Jetty van Ginkel, Owner at Care for Impact in the Netherlands; Marguerite Evans-Galea, Executive director of the Industry Mentoring Network in STEM and co-founder of Women in Stem Australia; and Chris Fellingham, Social Sciences and Humanities Lead at Oxford University Innovations and Founder and Director of the ARC Accelerator. We will discuss how universities can enhance the entrepreneurial mindset within their institution to drive research excellence and innovation, while exploring different commercialisation pathways and overcoming barriers. This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

In June 2020, Ti Xu of Cibus Health gave a talk to our SUCCESS (now ARC) programme. Ti’s start-up helps infants to communicate with babies, with an initial focus on prevention of overfeeding.

Ti is also a big presence in the Oxford entrepreneur scene, helping researchers take their ideas – validate them – and get them started, and he’s hugely passionate about the entrepreneurial process.

The session provided many practical insights on needs-based innovation. Here we share a couple of the highlights from Ti’s talk.

This online session looked at how a new type of fellowship initiative developed by Cardiff Business School and the Welsh Co-Operative Centre establishes communities of entrepreneurs that work together to understand and tackle social challenges and create social enterprise ecosystems of measurable impact.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines a Comprehensive Qualitative Approach to Evaluation research method used by Mayra Morales Tirado from the University of Manchester. The image was created in collaboration with Irene Solé Canet.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

Here We Flow is a social start-up bringing organic feminine hygiene products to the mass market in the UK.

This case study is from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and is part of a series produced by the Aspect Ecosystem Mapping Project. The project, part of the Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, aims to share examples of best practice and showcase exceptional stories of innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation in the social sciences from each of the participating universities.

In this episode, join a conversation between Cameron McCoy, Provost at Shenandoah University, and Scott McKinley, Founding Partner of McKinley Hodge Group and former Global lead of the Proserve Academy at Amazon Webservices. In today’s discussion, Cameron and Scott will explore how universities need to adapt to cater to the changing skills needs of employers and provide examples on how to future-proof the universities.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

In this webinar from 2021, attendees had the opportunity to gain insights from various aspects of the ASAP programme including how the accelerator structure and curriculum were adapted for social entrepreneurs. They also reflected on the value of social science research to early and later stage social entrepreneurs.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Building a better world after COVID-19: Transforming how we think about social science commercialisation, which took place on the 7th September – explored the crucial role that social sciences can play in the post COVID-19 recovery, the challenges involved in commercialising social sciences and strategies for overcoming them, and how Aspect is looking to bridge the divide between social sciences and business.

Panel members

• Professor Julia Black (Chair) – Strategic Director of Innovation & Professor of Law at the LSE, & Chair of the Aspect Steering Group
• Professor Tom Ormerod – Director of Applied Behavioural Science, University of Sussex
• Don Spalinger – Managing Director, PDT International Ltd & Director, ICURe Programme
• Rosalind Lowe – Head of Policy and Engagement at the National Centre for Universities and Business

The Methods for Change project seeks to highlight the value of social science methodologies to the wider world. It aims to amplify methodologies developed by social scientists researching pressing societal issues, and to make a case for their wider application beyond academia.

This 2020 report for the first phase of the Methods four Change project report describes the project, its aims, and the findings generated by the project team and their conclusions.

This template from the Aspect KE Communications Community of Practice contains a series of questions aimed at helping individuals and organisations create case studies for communications and knowledge exchange.

In this knowledge sharing Q&A session led by the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, Glasgow shared their experience in developing and growing student enterprise support with a full-time staff of one. Through this session, Glasgow discusses the evolution of the two main student enterprise support programmes, that is the Summer Company Programme and the Summer Workshop Programme, which run concurrently over June to August of each year. Other Aspect member institutions also offer learnings from their own experience of delivering programmes with limited staff and resources.

Our webinar on the 5th August 2020– a collaboration between Aspect members LSE and the University of Glasgow – explored the crucial role of social sciences in building resilient communities and businesses in the ‘new normal’.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Driving entrepreneurship in the social sciences, which took place on the 23rd September – showcased the work of the Masood Enterprise Centre in developing entrepreneurial skills among social scientists and discussed best practice in driving entrepreneurship.

• Tony Walker – Deputy Director of the Masood Enterprise Centre, Alliance Manchester Business School
• Laura Etchells – Enterprise Business Development Manager, Masood Enterprise Centre, Alliance Manchester Business School
• Ricardo Climent – Professor of Interactive Music Composition, University of Manchester
• Alison Edmonds – Director, Epic Steps Careers+

Oxford and Manchester both funded Innovation Fellow programmes with the aim of driving greater academic engagement with the Aspect network and to lay the groundwork for a future phase of Innovation Fellowships to become a flagship programme of the Aspect Network.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Participatory Film Making research method used by Andrew Irving from the University of Manchester, Robyn Swannack and Nenio Mbazima from the University of the Witwatersrand. The film was created in collaboration with Alastair Lomas, The University of Manchester.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Animal Logic Academy is a world leading animation and visualisation school built on the firm belief that industry should lead education. In our recent Fireside Chat, Balzhan Orazbayeva (Manager Strategic Initiatives, UIIN) sat down with Ian Thompson (Head of UTS Animal Logic Academy) to discuss how UTS created a ground-breaking model for their master’s program that provides graduates with an opportunity to directly develop critical, industry-focused and professional skills.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Sustainability at scale: The role of social science research in building long-term solutions, which took place on the 7th September – explored how we work across disciplines and sectors to engage with sustainability at a micro and macro level. Featuring a broad range of research and practice at the University of Glasgow and associated partners, the presented approach strives towards a long-term and holistic approach to policy-making and planning for sustainability.

• Professor Jude Robinson – Professor in Health & Wellbeing & Deputy Head of College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow
• Dr Jill Robbie – Lecturer, School of Law, University of Glasgow
• Dr Mia Perry – Senior Lecturer in Community Development and Adult Education, School of Education, University of Glasgow
• Dr John Shi – Senior Lecturer in Hydrology, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow

As part of the British Academy’s Leaders in SHAPE series, former journalist and diplomatic correspondent and Master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge Bridget Kendall joins Aditi Lahiri to discuss her life, career and passion for language learning.

You can find out more about the British Academy’s wonderful work in SHAPE here.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Walk-along Interviews research method used by Rashida Bibi from the University of Manchester. The image was created in collaboration with a research participant from the ‘Challenging discourses on BSA Muslim women through an intersectional analysis of everyday experiences across spaces of home, work and public space’ research project and Samuel De Tomasi.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

On Monday 9th November at around 2pm, 12 teams from the first SUCCESS (now ARC) cohort crammed onto a Zoom call, ready to pitch their ventures to a panel of three judges and a wider community of academics, universities, research councils and investors from across the UK. For the teams, this was the culmination of 7 months of tireless work – they’d arrived at the SUCCESS programme with nascent ideas to turn their research into ventures and they were now presenting their ventures to judges (and the wider world).

In this article, Chris Fellingham – Venture Manager at Oxford University Innovation and Head of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator – reflects on the inaugural SUCCESS Programme and looks ahead to the next round (when SUCCESS will become the ARC Accelerator).

As part of the British Academy’s Leaders in SHAPE series, psychologist and leading expert on autism Simon Baron-Cohen joins Saba Salman to discuss his life, career and latest book The Pattern Seekers.

You can find out more about the British Academy’s wonderful work in SHAPE here.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – A practical guide to operationalising intrapreneurship within institutional frameworks, which took place on the 15th September – explored how intrapreneurship as a model can be embedded within institutions whilst exploring the advantages of an intrapreneurship model for developing employability within student populations.

• Paige Mccaleb – External Partnership Co-ordinator, University of Glasgow
• Dr Fiona Heatlie – Head of Research and Business Development, University of Glasgow

We chatted with Robert Klassen, from the University of York, about his venture, the Teacher Selection Project which helps to select and develop new teachers best suited to the profession.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

Blue Shoes Productions is a start-up production company helping to document the voices of individuals and communities who remain underrepresented by the mass media. This case study is from Manchester University, where the founders met as History Masters, and is part of a series produced by the Aspect Ecosystem Mapping Project. The project, part of the Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, aims to share examples of best practice and showcase exceptional stories of innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation in the social sciences from each of the participating universities.

Today’s episode is the second part of the discussion with Marguerite Evans-Galea (Women in STEMM Australia), Jetty van Ginkel (Care for Impact) and Chris Fellingham (Oxford University Innovations) If you haven’t already listened to the first part, make sure to check it out here!

Continuing with the discussion around valorisation and commercialisation, the UIIN team now delve into what characteristics and knowledge individual researchers require to be able to successfully create impact from their work.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

As part of the British Academy’s Leaders in SHAPE series, author, broadcaster and psychology lecturer Claudia Hammond joins Dorothy Bishop to discuss her life, career and latest book The Art of Rest.

You can find out more about the British Academy’s wonderful work in SHAPE here.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – How can social scientists engage business effectively?, which took place on the 29th September – explored the top three success factors for effective engagement between social scientists and business: alignment of opportunity, purpose and outcomes.

Panel members

• Dr Ruth Welters (Chair) – Business Engagement Coordinator, University of Bristol
• Sam Collier – PhD Student, Sustainable Futures, University of Bristol
• Colin Nolden – VC Fellow, University of Bristol
• Mary Wakeham – PhD student, University of Bristol

Funded by Aspect, ABaCuSS was designed to inspire innovation through collaboration between business and PhD researchers in social science. The programme aimed to accelerate solutions to social challenges for businesses, and provide a platform to transform the contribution that social sciences research can make to society.

The Aspect Research Commercialisation Community of Practice (CoP) seeks to share best practices, find opportunities for shared activities and identify and test new and experimental models for commercialising social. The CoP hosted a workshop series on stimulating the pipeline for social science research commercialisation, the outputs from which are reported in this document.

We anticipate the learnings to be informative for practitioners who are involved in Research Commercialisation activity within their organisation, in particular representatives from Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). science research.

Experts from Cardiff University’s Sustainable Places Research Institute (PLACE) say sustainable and just food systems were more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. Academics from the Institute joined Aspect’s Annual Event 2020 to set out their vision for the future.

Here Research Fellows Hannah Pitt, Angelina Sanderson Bellamy, and Research Associate Poppy Nicol outline the issues at stake.

As part of the British Academy’s Leaders in SHAPE series, award-winning author, broadcaster, professor and newly elected Honorary Fellow of the British Academy Gary Younge joins Desmond King to discuss his life and career.

You can find out more about the British Academy’s wonderful work in SHAPE here.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Creating ventures during COVID-19: Challenges and opportunities, which took place on the 22nd September – explored the experiences of 3 different organisations with regards to creating ventures during COVID-19; how they managed the challenges and opportunities.

The inaugural cohort of the SUCCESS Programme – now called the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator – culminated in the pitch day on 9th November 2020.

Through the programme, we saw ventures tackling major sectors of the economy, from Financial Services and Policy to Education, and from the NHS to International Development.

Here, we include profiles of each of the 12 projects that took part in this initial cohort – including a video of the final pitch they delivered and a project profile.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Systems Origami research method used by Kersty Hobson from Cardiff University. The film was created in collaboration with Alastair Lomas, The University of Manchester.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

This inspiring (two-part) fireside chat was conducted with Santiago Iñiguez, President of IE University, exploring the future of higher education and giving you practical tips and insights for designing and reinventing higher education programs and implementing digital technologies. Iñiguez touches on the move towards ‘Liquid Learning’ at IE University in Spain, the pivotal role universities play in community leadership and much more!

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

SUCCESS (ARC) project profile 2020: Sahara Nutrition Local authority children’s services in England provide support for most vulnerable children. Providing the right support at the right time is crucial to a child’s long-term outcomes. Cost calculator is an analytics tool that enables local authorities evaluate which support leads to which outcomes, while monitoring progress and costs. Our existing Cost Calculator platform has benefited thousands of children across local authorities for 15+ years, but we now need a web-based platform to enhance data security, usability, functionality and scalability.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – How can social scientists engage business effectively?, which took place on the 29th September – explored the top three success factors for effective engagement between social scientists and business: alignment of opportunity, purpose and outcomes.

We spoke with Gianpaolo Fusari from the Helix Centre Digital Health Innovation lab to learn more about his venture, OnTrack Rehab helping stroke survivors and how ARC is supporting him in this.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines Social Practice Art as Research used by Jenna Ashton from the University of Manchester. The artwork was created in collaboration with Irene Solé Canet.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

The SUCCESS programme (now called ARC) helped social science academics and researchers transform innovative and marketable ideas into a business or social enterprise.

We spoke to Mina Chiang – Founder of the Humanity Research Consultancy – about her project and how she has benefitted from SUCCESS.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Taking poverty measurement research into the private sector, which took place on the 30th September – focused on the Sophia Oxford project developed by ODID’s Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. It explored how the organisation is taking the methodology to measure multidimensional poverty to the private sector and engaging companies in assessing poverty among their workforce. The panel discussed how to set an infrastructure, the importance of establishing credibility and managing partners, and the impact of COVID-19 on early ventures.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Building a Social Science Research Park: A value-based approach to working with external organisations, which took place on the 20th October – focused on Cardiff University’s SPARK initiative, and their approach to creating a value-based model with external partners who will co-locate in this building with social science led interdisciplinary research centres.

Panel members

• Professor Chris Taylor – Professor of Social Sciences, Cardiff University & Academic Director of the Cardiff University Social Science Research Park (SPARK)
• Dave Braines – Director of Emerging Technologies, IBM
• Andy Lahy – Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, DSV Panalpina

This ‘how to’ guide outlines Participant Packs: A Flexible, Inclusive and Accessible Method used by Amy Barron from the University of Manchester. The illustration was created in collaboration with India Joseph, Moon and Moth Studio.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

This case study series was produced by the Aspect Ecosystem Mapping Project. The project, part of the Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, shared examples of best practice and showcased exceptional stories of innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation in the social sciences from each of the participating universities.

Now more than ever, universities are challenged to adapt to, and even embrace, technological and cultural disruptions and lead the way towards social and economic regeneration. How? By starting with themselves: Forward-looking universities test their educational assumptions, re-design their approach to add value to students and faculty alike, and re-imagine their outmoded organisational structures.

In this episode, Carolin Plewa, Pro Vice Chancellor (Researcher Education and Development) and Dean of Graduate Studies of the University of Adelaide; together with Pascale Quester, Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology; explore how the pandemic has affected Higher Education Institutions and what the future holds for universities.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

SUCCESS (ARC) project profile 2020: Enduring Net We spoke to Professor Ser-Huang Poon – Turing Fellow, Alan Turing Institute for Data Science & AI, University of Manchester, and Founder & Trustee, Enduring Net. An internet “check-in book” to complement Bluetooth T&T for organisers, such as care home managers, university lecturers, etc. It generates a covid safe attendance register, and for everyone to be alerted when there is an outbreak among the group gatherings. By using internet Socket-IO connection ID (stored on local device), our app does not use/store personal information. Our T&T is decentralised and avoids incidences like data overload and single-point-failure. We are not using Bluetooth technology meaning those without access to a Smartphone can still use the service.

A pioneering Business Engagement Workshop was run by Aspect in partnership with Creative Manchester – part of The University of Manchester’s School of Arts, Languages and Cultures – on 2nd December 2020. Attended by members of a vast array of organisations, the workshop explored the ways in which researchers and creative businesses can preserve and enhance each other’s work through partnership.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Early career social scientists: The case for working in start-ups, which took place on the 21st October – focused on the ways in which social science research skills are relevant and valuable to start-ups, with reflections from social scientists playing prominent roles in start-ups, and discussion about the transition from academia to industry, with a particular focus on guidance for early career researchers.

Panel:

• Rachel Carey (Chair) – Chief Scientist, Zinc
• Anja Maerz – Lead User Researcher at Babylon Health
• Andre Richter – Senior Data Scientist at Just Eat
• Anna Hushlak – Chief Product Officer at Ferly
• John Blythe – Head of Behavioural Science at Cybsafe

The Aspect Creative Challenge Series led by LSE aimed to show the scope of social science research and the artist’s relevance in today’s society as explorers of the challenges and issues that surround us. The series consisted of eight online events – four between the just the artists and the academics, and four engaging a broader audience. This report provides an overview and insights for institutions wishing to host similar events.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Reducing resource use through shared access to consumer goods: Barriers and motivations, which took place on the 22nd October – explored the subconscious barriers to nudging behaviour change, the consequences of consumption, alternative consumption models and recommendations in this area for businesses, organisations, and policy makers.

Panel members

• Dr Nicole Koenig-Lewis – Reader (Associate Professor) in Marketing at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
• Dr Carmela Bosangit – Lecturer in Marketing at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
• Eve Kekeh – Founder, Bundlee
• Chris Hellawell – Founder & Director, Edinburgh Tool Library

In July 2020, a new Aspect funded project was launched, on the commercialisation of educational games produced within the world of social sciences. The initiative is led by Manchester University, with Nottingham Trent, Bristol, and Glasgow as partners. The aim was to increase understanding and experience in finding pathways to marketing games, ultimately enabling universities to tap into what is, at present, an under-used reservoir of potential.

In this article, Gavin Davies – Project Officer at the University of Manchester – explains the background to the project and outlines its activity and plans.

As we live for longer, significant efforts are needed across academia and industry to create products and services that add quality years to later life. In this blog Tim Shakespeare, Research and Innovation Design Manager at Zinc, reports on an event bringing together experts in ageing research, funding and public involvement to discuss the path ahead.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – The future of social science commercialisation, which took place on the 28th October – explored where the biggest opportunities lie for the commercialisation of social sciences, how academia and industry can look to take advantage, and Aspect’s future plans in terms of driving and supporting social science commercialisation.

Panel members: Professor Julia Black (Chair) – Strategic Director of Innovation and Professor of Law at the LSE, and Chair of the Aspect Steering Group Melanie Knetsch – Deputy Director, Innovation and Impact, ESRC:UKRI Ian Tracey – Co-Founder, Anchored In Vikas Shah MBE – CEO, Swiscot Group and Honorary Professor of Business, University of Manchester

The ecosystem project set out to identify and ‘map’ the entrepreneurship offerings at Aspect member institutions. Join us in diving in to some of their findings.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Could small and medium size businesses be the key to sustaining the economy and our communities?, which took place on the 16th September – explored how SMEs could be the key to sustaining the economy and our communities, discussed how we can support and sustain SMEs, and provided practical advice and insights on navigating the future.

Panel members

• Professor Kiran Trehan – Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of York, and President of the Institute for Small Business and Enterprise
• Andy Lee – Enterprise Team, Commercial & Private Banking, NatWest
• Sue Jefferson – Founder & CEO, Possibilities Realised
• Jordan Butcher – Co-Founder, Sketch Creative

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Biographical Mapping research method used by Penny Tinkler and Laura Fenton from the University of Manchester. The image was created in collaboration with More Than Minutes.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines A Place-based Case Study Approach research method used by Jessica Paddock, from the University of Bristol. The image was created in collaboration with Chris Murray, More Than Minutes.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

What support exists for social science commercialisation, what are the barriers and where do the biggest opportunities lie?

In this video from 2020, Sophie Jones – Impact and Innovation Officer at Cardiff University – speaks to Lillian Matovu, ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Manager at Cardiff University and Micaela Gal, The Wellcome Trust ‘Institutional Translational Partnership Award’ (ITPA) lead, about the support available to help social science academics navigate the commercialisation landscape.

On 12th May 2021, The Methods for Change Showcase Event brought together academic contributors from the Methods for Change project with professionals from policy, charity, business, and creative sectors. Through a series of interactive panels, together we unpicked the importance and opportunities for social science methods to create change in a variety of different ways. We hope that the event will help to galvanise this community of researchers, working in diverse settings and institutional contexts, to invoke transformational change through social sciences methods.

SUCCESS (ARC) project profile 2020: WallBo

We spoke to Dr Amol Deshmukh – Research Associate at the University of Glasgow – about WallBo, his AI powered project that seeks to save lives through facilitating more effective handwashing. Their vision is to transform handwashing for children in schools with our wall mounted social robot, WallBo, in both developing and developed countries.

WallBo encourages, monitors and teaches handwashing in a fun and engaging way using behavioural science and artificial intelligence. WallBo will prevent germ transmission, save healthcare costs and save lives. WallBo provides a 60-fold return on investment on healthcare costs annually in UK schools alone and increase hand hygiene compliance by 40%.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Change Points Toolkit: A method to design interventions that unlock sustainable practices developed by Claire Hoolohan and Ali Browne from The University of Manchester, Matt Watson from the University of Sheffield and the wider Change Points team. The films were created in collaboration with Chris Murray, More Than Minutes.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

As part of the Aspect Entrepreneurship Workshop Series project, the Entrepreneurship COP funded two ‘mini-projects’: The ASAP Club and the Soc Sci Entrepreneurs Journey Map. The aim was trial solutions to some of the SocSci entrepreneurship issues and challenges, that had been arising from the workshop series discussions. Read more about the ASAP Club here.

SUCCESS (ARC) project profile 2020: The State of the States

We spoke to Chris Gilson – Managing Editor, LSE’s US Politics and Policy Blog, at the LSE US Centre, and Creator of The State of the States. The State of the States is an online policy intelligence subscription service and database which gives state and local government practitioners and policymakers in the United States the right information to do their jobs more effectively. The platform has three parts: a ‘policy brain’ which curates and explains examples of best practice in policymaking across different policy issues and challenges; a network for practitioners to connect and share problems and best practice; and social media sentiment analysis function for policies.

This is a write up of the workshop ‘Revenue generation opportunities for entrepreneurship hubs’ held on 23 June 2020.

The Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice led this knowledge sharing session to discuss and exchange learnings in this area, which are most applicable for entrepreneurship hubs that are facing pressures to generate revenue and/or facing a funding gap or are considering growing the programme’s remit. In particular, we share the context and experience of Aspect members, LSE and Bristol.

SUCCESS (ARC) project profile 2020: Sahara Nutrition: We spoke to Dr Hibbah Osei-kwasi – AXA postgraduate researcher at the University of Sheffield and Founder of Sahara Nutrition.

Poor nutrition disproportionately affects the BAME community. The vision of Sahara Nutrition is to improve the lives of Black Africans across the UK. We will achieve this through awareness raising, and empowering of local community using an innovative community-based model. Our goal is for BMEs to be able to take charge and better manage obesity and hypertension. We will create a digital platform where people can trust and have conversation about their health and lifestyle. We will provide quality education and training, ongoing nutrition support and build cultural competence amongst Nutrition professionals. We will provide tools for healthy living the cultural way!

Sharron Hinchliff is a reader in Psychology and Health at the University of Sheffield and we chat with her about her social enterprise, Age of Love which is helping to destigmatize sexual wellbeing and health for over 50s.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

As part of its venture builder programme that built start-ups with a mission to add 5 high quality years to later life, Zinc established a number of ventures tackling taboo topics related to ageing.

Seeing the need to address issues that are commonly avoided or seen as not appropriate topics of conversation, Zinc has developed a programme to support start-ups working on taboo topics, in ageing and wider aspects of health.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Visual Organisational Ethnography research method used by Stephen Linstead from the University of York. The booklet was created in collaboration with Bryan Ledgard.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

The Aspect Student Accelerator Programme (ASAP) was the Aspect network’s flagship social sciences student and alumni business accelerator. Hosted by LSE, this four-month programme was designed to support and scale socially responsible student and alumni ventures.

The ASAP Impact Report 2020/21 highlights the key results and programme activities from this inaugural cohort of nineteen social impact ventures from eight Aspect universities.

Culturalytics, founded by Michael Muthukrishna, helps organisations achieve their goals by quantifying their culture. We chat with him to find out more.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Follow the Thing method, used by Dr Stephanie Sodero from the University of Manchester. The illustration was created in collaboration with Jack Brougham.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

Renowned for her ‘intimate balanced sound’ (The Washington Post), Helen Newby’s music hinges around the notion of collaboration, continually seeking to expand both the technical and expressive boundaries of her instruments in an embrace of today’s technologies.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Life Histories research method used by Divya Sharma from the University of Sussex. The artwork was created in collaboration with India Joseph, Moon and Moth Studio.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

We spoke with Lucy Jenkins from the University of Cardiff to learn more about the MFL Student Mentoring project helping to encourage more children to study international languages beyond GCSE level.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines Hands-on engagement and learning with Ketso used by Joanne Tippett from the University of Manchester and Fraser How, Ketso trainer and facilitator. The images and video were created in collaboration with Anna White @SneakyRaccoon.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Sociological Discourse Analysis research method used by Ulrike Ehgartner from The University of Manchester. The booklet was created by Irene Solé Canet.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Digitised Ethnography: Creating Interactive Stories research method used by Andrea Pia from London School of Economics. The image was created in collaboration with Jack Brougham.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

Looking back at the 2021 intake for the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator!

From a large number of applications, 14 innovative ventures were selected. Drawn from a wide disciplinary focus, loosely defined these ventures stretch across five areas: Health and Social Care, Arts and Humanities, International Development, Government and Policy, Education, seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Open Interviews research method used by Jude Robinson from the University of Glasgow. The film was created in collaboration with Tom Young.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

In today’s episode, the discussion revolves around the perceived challenges to commercialisation and valorisation and the different support mechanisms to overcome these challenges while sharing some examples of valorisation in practice, and specifically in social sciences, humanities and arts. For this discussion, we have invited Dr. Emma Salgard Cunha, Commercialisation Manager (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) at Cambridge Enterprise at the University of Cambridge; and Sean Farran, Global Innovation Lead at London School of Economics and Head of Marketing and Communications at Aspect. This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the gentle methodologies research method used by Laura Pottinger from the University of Manchester. The film was created in collaboration with Stephen Miller, the printed manifesto by Nell Smith and graphic design from Samuel de Tomasi.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

In this knowledge sharing Q&A session led by the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice, the University of Bristol shared their experience in conceptualising a user-centric pathway for entrepreneurial support. The initiative responds to an existing institutional arrangement in which entrepreneurship support is offered by different parts of the university with little to no communication with one another. This results in inefficiency and suboptimal provision of support (also discussed during a prior Aspect workshop).

The Methods for Change team reflect on key lessons and challenges faced in their project so far, and give an insight into their exciting outputs.

We spoke to George Freeman, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, at the reSHAPE event in November 2022. reSHAPE is an annual event collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

Join Morven Fraser-Walther and Chris Fellingham from the Research Commercialisation Community of Practice to dive into the difference, and similarities, between social ventures and social science ventures.

We caught up with Sarah Ward, Research Associate: Scottish Children’s Neighbourhoods (Educational Leadership & Policy) at the University of Glasgow, to discuss her Children’s Voice initiative, which address child poverty by hearing the priorities and challenges from children and youth themselves in order to create more effective policies.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

We caught up with Mark Doffman, Teaching Associate in Music Psychology at the University of Sheffield, and part of SPARC Consultancy which supports art organisations in a post-pandemic world on his involvement with ARC.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the participatory mapping research method used by Deborah Ralls from the University of Manchester. The video was created in collaboration with Dave Draws.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

Lisa Kelly is a lecturer in Television Studies from the University of Glasgow. She is the founder of Set, Ready, Safety, a venture designed to improve the safety and wellbeing of new entrants and freelance crew on production sets. We chat with Lisa to find out more.

This project profile is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator, Class of 2021. ARC (formerly SUCCESS) is now on to it’s second cohort of university-based ventures seeking to change the world through their innovative, creative and disruptive ideas.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Participatory Qualitative Interviews research method used by Lucy Jackson from the University of Sheffield. The booklet was created in collaboration with Jack Brougham.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

We chat with Du Liu from the University of Oxford about her venture OxValue.AI, which offers a new approach to technology valuation. This project is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator 2022 Cohort.

We spoke to Melanie Knetsch, Deputy Director of Innovation and Impact at ESRC, at the reSHAPE event in November 2022.

reSHAPE is an annual event collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

UKRI is exploring new ways of funding researchers to translate research into transformative products or services that add quality to later life. As part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) on healthy ageing, they are running the Healthy Ageing Catalyst Awards in partnership with Zinc. These Awards offer up to £62,500 and a programme of support that will help researchers to create solutions with a lasting impact.

In this Q&A, Huw Vasey, UKRI Senior Portfolio Manager (Healthy Ageing), explains what he hopes to see from this funding stream.

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Mobile Visual Methods approach used by Jennie Middleton from the University of Oxford. The image was created in collaboration with Jack Brougham.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

We chat with David Rosenthal from the University of Exeter about his venture Hidden Cities, which offers mobile storytelling on historic maps. You can find the Hidden Cities apps in the App Store, on Google Play, and linked at the bottom of this article. This project is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator 2022 Cohort.

Today’s episode is the second and last part of a conversation with Santiago Iñiguez, President of IE University and Todd Davey, Associate Partner at UIIN. Building on the previous discussion, available ubnder the archive tab above, the team at UIIN continue to delve into the importance of lifelong learning and what benefits the personalisation of education will bring to the current and future generation. We hope you will enjoy the conversation and in-sights from Santiago and Todd.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

In this blog post, the Methods for Change team – Sarah Marie Hall, Amy Barron, Alison Browne, Ulrike Ehgartner and Laura Pottinger – discuss their recent experiences leading a research engagement training session for new academics in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Manchester.

They touch on creative techniques to talk about creative methods and showcase examples and stories from participants at the session.

In its third venture builder programme, Zinc brought 45 creative and entrepreneurial individuals together to build new companies with a mission to add 5 more high-quality years to later life.

A new report, led by Ella Moonan-Howard at Zinc and commissioned by The Dunhill Medical Trust, builds on this experience to suggest why, where and how to innovate in later life. The report draws on a series of conversations with founders, innovators, people with lived experience and experts from fields such as academia, design and investment.

In this blog for Aspect, Tim Shakespeare, Research and Innovation Design Manager at Zinc, highlights the key points from the report on the opportunities and challenges of combining social science research and commercial innovation in the context of healthy ageing.

In 2014, the University of Oxford developed a web portal called Enterprising Oxford (EO), which collates and curates entrepreneurial resources around people, places, programmes and pounds (funding), and disseminates that information via a website, a weekly newsletter, and social media.

The “Mapping an Ecosystem” workshop was devised in order to share the experience of University of Oxford in creating and maintaining maps of relevant entrepreneurship activities, resources and opportunities for members to access. In discussions with other members of the Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice (ECoP), it was felt it would be useful understand the processes and if/how they could be implemented in other universities.

We spoke to Hetan Shah, CEO of the British Academy, at the reSHAPE event in November 2022.

reSHAPE is an annual event collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

Following our interview with Tony Walker (Deputy Director of the Masood Enterprise Centre at Alliance Manchester Business School), Alex Riley – Aspect Broker at the University of Manchester – reflected on why the outlook appears to be so positive for social science commercialisation.

In this blog the Methods for Change team reflect on three intimate and interactive sessions on visual, participatory and policy-led methods they convened as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. The sessions initiated new dialogue between academics, policy makers, government advisors, NGOs, businesses and charities.

The Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) is a hub for understanding the social science of climate action.

CAST is a consortium of five universities – Bath, Manchester, York, UEA and Cardiff – and the charity Climate Outreach, with Cardiff University as its main host institution. CAST’s work focusses on four key areas with huge potential for decarbonisation (food, transport, material consumption and heating and cooling) and asks how we can live differently – and better – in ways that rapidly reduce warming emissions.

Ha​nnah Garcia, Communications and Engagement Officer at CAST, and Sophie Jones, Impact and Innovation Officer at Cardiff University, explain the important work of the CAST consortium.

This interactive session from Aspect Festival21 looked at how the social entrepreneurs of ASAP were able to get their first paying customer thanks to various resources offered during the programme (Mentorship, Bootcamps, Stipend, Alumni Support sessions etc).

The social enterprise model is an important approach to the commercialisation of social sciences.

We caught up with Paul Harrod, CEO, and Sally Good, Director of Services, at Evidence to Impact – an organisation that seeks to bridge the gap between public health research and the people who need it the most, through helping to maximise the impact of academic research.

They provided insights on the value of a social enterprise approach, the challenges involved, advice for those seeking to deploy this route and examples of some of the work they have done in this area.

Funded by the Scottish Funding Council, Converge is Scotland’s national entrepreneurial development programme for Higher Education Institutions.

Dr Claudia Cavalluzzo, Director of Converge, explains how Converge is helping to support research commercialisation and the creation of high-growth companies.

Technology transfer has the power to bridge gaps not only between industry, academia, and government within a country but also on a global scale! Today’s guest, Dr. Alfred Tan, has been the Head of the Knowledge Transfer Office at Hong Kong University for 13 years. He also serves as the Deputy Managing Director and a Board member of Versitech Limited.

In this episode, Alfred shares how his office leverages Hong Kong’s close ties to Eastern countries and its Western-style systems to enhance collaboration between the two regions. He talks about the importance of relationship-building, “doing the right thing while doing things right,” and the rapid rate at which Hong Kong’s innovation ecosystem has grown in the past 10 years.

This podcast is produced by our friends the Association of Technology Managers (AUTM). You can find out more about their amazing work here: https://autm.net/

As the world emerged from the COVID-19 lockdown many opportunities have arose to rethink how and for whom our societies operate.

In this article, Julia Black – Strategic Director of Innovation, LSE, and Chair of the Aspect Steering Group – argues that social sciences can play a unique role in the post-COVID-19 recovery by forging new relationships with business and commerce and outlines how initiatives, such as the Aspect network, are seeking to bridge the divide between the social sciences and business.

We spoke to Francesco Valente, Investment Associate, Global Innovation Fund, at the reSHAPE event in November 2022.

reSHAPE is an annual event collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

SHAPE research is focused on engendering positive social change through creative, engaged and collaborative environments. It encompasses a diverse, inclusive and innovative research landscape. In this context, urban environments are an increasing area of focus for social scientists.

We spoke to Morven Fraser-Walther – Aspect Programme Coordinator at the University of Glasgow – about some of the challenges and opportunities for social sciences in this area, and the University’s work in relation to urban planning and sustainable development.

The social sciences had and have a crucial role to play in the COVID-19 recovery, and in addressing many other challenges society faces. However, it is clear that there are persistent barriers that continue to impact the route to social science commercialisation.

In this article from 2020, first published on the LSE Business Review, Professor Julia Black – President of the British Academy, Strategic Director of Innovation and Professor of Law at LSE, and Chair of the Aspect Steering Group – outlines how Aspect seeks to transform how social sciences research is commercialised and flags our (then) recently launched 2020 Learning Report, which provides an overview of the key insights and learnings from across the network over the previous twelve months.

The abstract nature of knowledge derived from the social sciences has often led to it being written off as common sense, or as being ill-suited to practical application.

In this article (first published by the LSE Impact Blog), Chris Fellingham – then Licensing and Ventures Manager in the Social Sciences and Humanities at Oxford University Innovations and Head of Aspect’s SUCCESS Programme (now ARC) – argues that creating businesses and social ventures based on social science insights presents bold, new opportunities for social science research to deliver impact.

Today’s episode is the second part of the discussion with Arturo Pizano, Program manager, University Collaboration at Siemens, Georgia von Guttner, Director of Innovation Precincts at the University of Melbourne, Robert (Denny) Lorentz, Director, Strategy and University Engagements at 3M’s Corporate Research Laboratory and Leah Burton, Director of the Partnership Office at NC State University.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

The culmination of the 2020 SUCCESS Programme – the pitch day – took place on 9th November.

With an award of £50,000 at stake, we heard fantastic pitches from each of our 12 projects. Over the course of the last 8 months, we have seen the social entrepreneurs develop and grow, and we’re immensely proud to have been part of their journey.

So, to the winners…

In this article, Ken Gibb – Director, UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) and Professor of Housing Economics, University of Glasgow – explains how CaCHE is seeking to embed international evidence into better housing policy and practice across the UK.

CaCHE is collaborating with Aspect to present two webinars focused on case studies highlighting partnerships across business and industry – details and links to register are included in the article.

It is a known problem that the ecosystem of high growth start-ups and businesses perform poorly in terms of diversity and inclusion, whether that is representation among venture capital teams, board membership, founders or employees.

Following an Aspect Entrepreneurship Community of Practice workshop to discuss and share learnings in this area – organised by Leah Thompson, Senior Knowledge Exchange Officer, University of Oxford – this article (written by Wen Chen, LSE School of Public Policy) shares some of the key outputs from the session.

We spoke to Alex Hook, Senior Investment Director at NESTA, at the reSHAPE event in November 2022.

reSHAPE is an annual event collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

Methods for Change highlights the value of social sciences methodologies to non-academic sectors. Our spotlight series aims to showcase a broad range of innovative social science research methods in practice and how they can bring benefits across a range of sectors.

In this Q&A Dr Alison Browne talks about the Change Points toolkit (designed with colleagues from Universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Keele) that blends practice theories with design methods to help stakeholders reformulate problem framings, actions and interventions to influence resource use in more sustainable directions.

Methods for Change highlights the value of social sciences methodologies to the wider world. It aims to showcase innovative research methods that facilitate social transformation and to demonstrate the benefits social sciences research can bring across a range of sectors.

This article by the Methods for Change team – Amy Barron, Alison Browne, Ulrike Ehgartner, Sarah Marie Hall and Laura Pottinger – outlines the importance of social science methodologies and how the project will seek to draw out innovative methods for the benefit of non-academic sectors.

The Aspect Learning Reports provide an overview of the key insights and learnings from across the network over the last twelve months.

Despite the unprecedented challenges resulting from COVID-19, we are humbled by the significant amount of work that has been progressed within the Aspect programme – our members and projects have innovated and shown admirable drive and ambition, and ensured that Aspect’s important work has continued as effectively as possible.

To close Aspect Festival21 we joined Julia Black to reflect on the Aspect journey.

Methods for Change highlights the value of social sciences methodologies to non-academic sectors. Our spotlight series aims to showcase a broad range of innovative social science research methods in practice and how they can bring benefits across a range of sectors.

In this Q&A, we learn about the methods used by Dr Jen Owen, who deploys a combination of object-orientated interviews and go-alongs in her research.

One of Aspect’s key projects, driven by The University of Sussex, was the internationalisation of the Aspect network. The project was led by Dr Shova Thapi, Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Sustainability in the Business School at Sussex.

We spoke to Andre Mostert, Aspect Broker at Sussex, and the project manager about the goals of the project and how interested organisations could become involved.

Although it is just one aspect of technology transfer, the start-up space is attracting an increasingly large proportion of the interest and support from professionals within (and outside of) the field.

Kirsten Leute (who is currently a partner at Osage University Partners) has spent nearly two decades immersed in the world of innovation. As a result she has witnessed the evolution that has taken place in the field over the years and thus has a broad, unique perspective, which she shares with us today.

Tune into this episode to hear how technology transfer professionals can support start-ups, help founders deal with challenges related to policies and regulations, and create more supportive environments for underrepresented entrepreneurs. The key takeaway from this conversation with Kirsten is that when it comes to effectively building and growing a start-up, one size does not fit all!

This podcast is produced by our friends the Association of Technology Managers (AUTM). You can find out more about their amazing work here: https://autm.net/

The 2020 ASAP cohort consisted of 19 start-ups from Aspect partner universities, all working towards solving pressing socio-economic and environmental issues – all participants are contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, either through the socially-responsible running of the business (data ethics/transparency of the supply chain/gender parity) and/or the measurable social/environmental impact created through the business idea.

We spoke to Warren Hatch, Good Judgment Inc, one of the ventures presenting at the reSHAPE event in November 2022.

reSHAPE is an annual event collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

The SUCCESS programme (now called ARC) helped social science academics and researchers transform innovative and marketable ideas into a business or social enterprise.

We spoke to Professor Ser-Huang Poon – Turing Fellow, Alan Turing Institute for Data Science & AI, University of Manchester, and Founder & Trustee, Enduring Net – about her very timely venture and how she has benefitted from SUCCESS.

SHAPE research is focused on engendering positive social change through creative, engaged and collaborative environments. It encompasses a diverse, inclusive and innovative research landscape. In this context, community safety, especially in the COVID-19 era is a key area of focus for social scientists.

We spoke to John Strutton from The Institute of Community Safety and Senior Crime Reduction & Operational Security Manager for Transport for London, about some of the existing and emerging challenges in the community safety arena, with a focus on the impact of COVID-19 – and the important role of social science research in this area.

One of Aspect’s key projects, which is being driven by The University of Sussex, is the internationalisation of the Aspect network.

In this context, we spoke to Stephan John, Secondary Benefits Specialist: Education, from the Department for International Trade, about the Skills for Prosperity (S4P) Programme, the importance of social sciences to international development and the scope for Aspect partners to engage with the initiative.

Developing enduring strategic partnerships with industry provides far greater and more sustainable value to universities than taking a more transactional approach that leads to one-off research projects or licensing arrangements. But so often, universities are not at a necessary state of ‘readiness’ and struggle to approach external partners strategically

For this episode, facilitated by Sarah Jaber (UIIN), the UIIN team invited Arturo Pizano, Program manager of University Collaboration at Siemens; Georgia von Guttner, Director of Innovation Precincts at the University of Melbourne; Robert (Denny) Lorentz, Director, Strategy and University Engagements at 3M’s Corporate Research Laboratory; and Leah Burton, Director of the Partnership Office at NC State University; to explain how their organisations engage and interact with their stakeholders to create meaningful partnerships.

This podcast was produced by our friends at the University Industry Innovation Network(UIIN) - a global community seeking to advance the field of university-industry engagement.

The SUCCESS programme (now called ARC) helped social scientists transform innovative and marketable ideas into a business or social enterprise.

We spoke to Dr Hibbah Osei-kwasi – AXA postgraduate researcher at the University of Sheffield and Founder of Sahara Nutrition – about her project and how SUCCESS has supported her journey.

Part of the Aspect Annual Event 2020 webinar series, this session – Combatting misinformation online: The role and relevance of the social sciences, which took place on the 24th September – showcased the relevance of social science expertise to combatting online misinformation, and outlined how more effective engagement can be built between academics, industry and government to put this knowledge to practical use.

Panel members: Rachel Gibson – Professor of Political Science, University of Manchester Dr Ariadna Tsenina – Research Associate, Democracy@Risk Project, University of Manchester Professor Martin Innes – Director, Crime and Security Research Institute & the Universities’ Police Science Institute and a Professor in Social Sciences Dr Vladimir Barash – Science Director, Graphika

From helping to fight the COVID-19 pandemic to re-imagining a society coexisting with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the social sciences have played a key role each step of the way.

As countries from Italy to India went into lockdown in order to buy precious time for vaccine development and for national and local health and public health systems to boost their capacity to confront the epidemic, insights from the social sciences helped to ensure governments crafted and implemented ‘stay-at-home’ policies and communications that people would actually adhere to.

In this article, Wen Chen, LSE School of Public Policy, and LJ Silverman, Head of LSE Generate, explore some of the crucial ways in which social sciences have contributed to the response to COVID-19.

We spoke to Laura White, Parenting for Lifelong Health, one of the ventures presenting at the reSHAPE event in November 2022.

reSHAPE is an annual event collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

By late March, the COVID-19 pandemic had triggered a UK-wide lockdown and Aspect member institutions had likewise moved to remote learning and support for students. Almost overnight, campuses were disbanded, with students and staff urged to return and stay at home. The pandemic forced an unprecedented leap into remote learning and working from home. This leap includes support for entrepreneurship. Aspect member institutions serve a critical role in supporting entrepreneurship of students, researchers and alumni at their respective universities, through early stage incubation, funding support and partnership formation.

In this article, Wen Chen, LSE School of Public Policy, and LJ Silverman, Head of LSE Generate, share the learnings from a workshop with Aspect members which focused on LSE’s approach to developing a holistic virtual entrepreneurship hub.

In this Methods for Change team profile, we are introduced to Ulrike Ehgartner, one of the main researchers on the project team. Ulrike explains her motivation for joining the Methods for Change project, the value of social science methodologies and how this project will seek to make a difference in terms of how these methodologies can add value to non-academic sectors.

To find out more about the rest of the team, check out the recent profiles of Amy Barron and Laura Pottinger.

Today I’m excited to be joined by Aileen Dingus, the Commercialization Network and Events Manager, to talk about making the paths to commercialization of inventions more equitable. Aileen brings a wealth of experience from both the private sector and higher education, making her a valuable voice in the conversation on making the paths to commercialization of inventions more equitable.

Since joining Tech Launch Arizona, Aileen has spearheaded the management of the NSF I-Corps Site program, guiding over a hundred teams through the program’s transformative journey. She has also played a pivotal role in developing the Claim Your Seat at the Table program, which empowers women researchers and inventors within the University of Arizona community, equipping them with the tools necessary to commercialize their inventions and create a meaningful impact beyond academia.

Aileen’s commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion extends beyond her work at Tech Launch Arizona. She serves as the Chair of the Arizona Tech Council Women in the Workforce committee and Co-Chair for the AUTM Diversity Special Interest Group.

Additionally, she has been actively involved as the Marketing and Logistics “Swim Lane” Lead for the University of Arizona’s inaugural Diversity Symposium and is a member of the NOLA Chorus Girls. In our conversation today, Aileen addresses the topic of gender disparity, investor biases, and most importantly, how organizations can foster a culture of inclusivity and diversity.

This podcast is produced by our friends the Association of Technology Managers (AUTM). You can find out more about their amazing work here: https://autm.net/

This ‘how to’ guide outlines the Open Interviews research method used by Jude Robinson from the University of Glasgow. The film was created in collaboration with Tom Young.

Social scientists from the Methods for Change project came together to discuss the research methods they use and how methods create change in society. Drawing from the expertise in the Aspect network, they collaborated on a series of ‘how to’ guides which are step-by-step instructions and top-tips for adopting these methods in a range of sectors. Visual and multisensory pieces, including comics, illustrations, posters, booklets, short films and animations were then developed in collaboration with creatives to capture the key value of these research methods with a view to being able to convey them to a variety of audiences.

It is hoped that these resources will be useful for people in higher education, commercial, public sector, third sector and community organisations who are interested in experimenting with, and expanding professional skills in, the adoption of social science research methods.

The SUCCESS programme (now called ARC) helped social scientists transform innovative and marketable ideas into a business or social enterprise.

We spoke to Dr Nai Rui Chng – Founder and CEO of Good Evaluation and a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow (Institute of Health and Wellbeing) – about his project and how he is benefitting from the SUCCESS Programme.

SHAPE is focused on engendering positive social change through creative, engaged and collaborative environments. It encompasses a diverse, inclusive and innovative research landscape. In this context, healthy ageing is an important area of focus for social scientists, particularly during the pandemic.

We spoke to Dr Tim Pascoe, lead at the Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies (DICE) Consortium (which comprises the University of Sussex and partners from 5 DICE Countries – Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and South Africa) and Director of the Digital Access Project (EU), about his experiences of the project and how it can support ongoing commercialisation of social science research, particularly in the field of healthy ageing.

In this Methods for Change team profile, we meet Laura Pottinger who is one of the main researchers on the project team. The first piece introduced Amy Barron and the next will focus on Ulrike Ehgartner.

Laura explains her motivation for joining the Methods for Change project, the value of social science methodologies and how this project will seek to make a difference in terms of how these methodologies can add value to non-academic sectors.

We spoke to Atif Ansar, OxCarbon, one of the ventures presenting at the reSHAPE event in November 2022.

reSHAPE is an annual event collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

The SUCCESS programme is helping social scientists transform innovative and marketable ideas into a business or social enterprise.

We spoke to Dr Amol Deshmukh – Research Associate at the University of Glasgow – about WallBo, his AI powered project that seeks to save lives through facilitating more effective handwashing, especially important in the context of COVID-19, and how he is benefitting from the SUCCESS programme.

Working in partnership to support National Grid in transforming the electricity transmission system for a greener, more sustainable future.

Mark Bayer’s career choices (from Capitol Hill to the non-profit sector to consulting) have all been driven by his desire to make a meaningful impact. And make a meaningful impact he has!

Mark is currently the president of Bayer Strategic Consulting, a boutique communications firm that helps universities and research institutes effectively communicate their work to their most important stakeholders.

In this episode, he talks about the factors that are essential for effective communication (from capturing attention to keeping your audience engaged), the RISE System that he has developed, and what you can learn from his podcast and weekly newsletter!

This podcast is produced by our friends the Association of Technology Managers (AUTM). You can find out more about their amazing work here: https://autm.net/

We chat with Anna Bull from the University of York about The 1752 Group, which aims to transform how higher education institutions prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence and harassment. This project is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator 2022 Cohort.

This final showcase event brought together the Methods for Change academic contributors and a range of professionals from policy, charity, business and creative sectors. In the panel discussions, and an interactive session, we unpicked the importance and opportunities for social science methods to create transformative change in these sectors.

As a hands-on toolkit, Ketso is used by hundreds of organisations for planning, educating, learning and creating in countries all around the world.

The University of Glasgow Business Boost Engagement Lead, representatives from the rail provider, Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) and the wider The University of Glasgow Social Science community attended a workshop to discuss UBDC analysis findings and explore future areas of collaboration. Two research funding applications are now in development.

We chat with William Short from the University of Exeter about his venture Senseful AI, a new search engine that allows you to search text by concepts and conceptual relations. This project is part of the Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator 2022 Cohort.

reSHAPE launched in November 2022 as a collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC, Aspect Angels and the Royal Society of Arts, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector. The 2023 reSHAPE event will be held at the the Royal Society of Arts on 7th September.

The SUCCESS programme is helping social scientists transform innovative and marketable ideas into a business or social enterprise.

We spoke to Ricardo Climent – Professor of Interactive Music, University of Manchester, and Founder of Keep•It•Human – about his ambitious project and what he’s hoping to get out of the SUCCESS programme. Dr Claudia Cavalluzzo, Director of Converge, explains how Converge is helping to support research commercialisation and the creation of high-growth companies.