Assessing research impact: what do we know and what's next for funders?

A substantial body of knowledge exists on how to assess the impact of research on policy, practice and society. But how much do funders use this knowledge to decide what – and how – to fund? Several months ago, we asked 30 leaders from public and philanthropic funding agencies (across sectors like education, environment and health) from 11 countries:

- On a scale of 1-10 (where 1 = not at all and 10 = fully), to what extent is the body of knowledge on research impact assessment serving your organisation?

- On the same scale, to what extent do you think the body of knowledge is serving the research system broadly?

The average scores were 4.8, and 4 out of 10, respectively. While the group was relatively small, the results suggest a disconnect between what’s known and what’s put into practice in research impact assessment.

Funders’ views on, and uses of, impact assessment knowledge

We asked the above questions in conversations with individual funders in preparation for a meeting hosted by Wellcome, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Impact Funders Forum (hosted by Pew) in Spring 2026. The meeting’s premise – confirmed in those conversations – was that funders and their partners could benefit more from the evidence on research impact assessment, as well as play a role in strengthening it. The pre-meeting conversations identified the following themes:

- Prospective analysis – a focus on how research is planned and supported to better achieve impact – presents opportunities.

- Complex assessments are needed to understand long-term impact – but competition for resources at individual and organisational levels drives pressure for immediate results.

- Advancing knowledge is, itself, an important impact dimension.

- Organisational and system leaders play a crucial role in shaping a culture that values thoughtful and realistic impact assessment.

The gap between research impact assessment knowledge and practice was attributed by funders in these conversations to an interplay of factors, including fragmented literature, limited time and funding to engage with the literature as well as to conduct robust assessments, inadequate infrastructure, and uncertainty about how to translate and apply the evidence. And what these 30 funders were looking forward to exploring at the meeting was: what exactly is the state of knowledge on research impact assessment, and how is it advancing related work in practice?

Three decades of scholarship on impact assessment

Prior to the funder meeting, we prepared this pre-reading report which consolidated three decades of scholarship on impact definitions, purposes, methods, and frameworks. The report notes the initial dominance of health/health care in high-income countries in the impact assessment literature but also recognises an increase in contributions related to agriculture, environment, social sciences and the humanities, and from a wider range of countries including Brazil, Hong Kong, Iran and South Africa. It also shows how studies have broadened beyond an initial focus on economic impact, to incorporate additional dimensions such as knowledge, capacity-building, decision-making and culture, as well as sector-specific and societal impacts.

The report shows how retrospective and prospective impact assessments are guiding strategic investment decisions, demonstrating investment outcomes, and communicating the broader value of research. It proposes that funders can collectively advance the field with fit-for-purpose approaches – aligning with global research reforms, studying research co-production, examining the role of artificial intelligence, and improving methods for assessing research impact.

Aligning for Impact

The research funder meeting unearthed an ambition to apply, test and expand knowledge about research impact – catalysed in a multi-funder initiative called Aligning for Impact. This initiative seeks to bring together funders interested in working collectively to leverage research impact assessment efforts. The goal is system-wide adoption of the tools, standards, processes, infrastructure and partnerships needed to support strategic and transformative investments in and across jurisdictions.

So far, Aligning for Impact is advancing a set of collaborative projects and engagement activities, including:

- understanding diverse impact definitions and categories

- developing user-friendly decision-support tools

- undertaking multi-funder studies of retrospective and prospective research impact

- establishing an impact lab where funders and partners can experiment, implement and scale.

As one funder colleague said:

Research has enormous, untapped potential. Truly understanding its impact can help unlock it.

We recognise that research system reform movements and research impact-related projects are underway worldwide. Success will therefore depend on learning from and supporting this related work, and partnering to shape the system-level conditions needed for success.

The founding partners of Aligning for Impact – Wellcome, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Impact Funders Forum (the latter acting as secretariat) – invite funders and research system partners to contribute their expertise, enthusiasm and resources to build momentum and action through this important project. To learn more, or explore opportunities to get involved, please contact Jocelyn Hastings at [email protected]