In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are faced with the challenge of having to adapt their plans for achieving specific changes in policy and practice through new evidence. In this context, a webinar hosted by The Impact Initiative on 11th June 2020 set out to explore how researchers may need to think differently about impact for education policy and practice, and what kind of support they might need from funders and policy actors.

The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed debates about the politics of science into the mainstream. A new report suggests there are some key qualities that may go towards determining the success of research-policy partnerships and those seeking to influence them. The ability of diverse communities of researchers and policy actors to find common ground, sustain their interactivity and adapt to change, will have real consequences.

The surprise announcement by UKRI that they will be removing the Pathways to Impact from their grant applications has sent the UK research community into a spin. Very few academics are going to miss writing impact pathways statements. They were seen by many as a tick box exercise and the opportunity to promote a deeper reflection on how to engage with non-academic partners and users was all too often squandered.