Submitting Institution: York (University of)

REF impact found 78 Case Studies

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ARC02 - Impact on Mesolithic heritage preservation, conservation and presentation

Summary of the impact

Founded in York in 1996, the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) has transformed how archaeological research is communicated in the UK, and impacted digital archiving throughout the world. Without the ADS, much of the fragile digital data (often the primary record of sites now destroyed) would have been lost. Instead, they are freely available to all. This impact extends across national heritage agencies, local government, commercial archaeology, and the public. Our resources are widely used with over two million page requests per month; almost half from beyond the HE sector. A recent study has concluded that the ADS is worth £5m per annum to the UK economy (Beagrie & Houghton 2013). The ADS has helped shape the digital preservation policy of English Heritage and informed practice in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Data Format
History and Archaeology: Archaeology, Curatorial and Related Studies

SOC01 - Advising the advisers: improving the conduct of adviser-claimant interviews in Jobcentre Plus

Summary of the impact

The impact of this research has been achieved through developing evidence-based recommendations for personal advisers in Jobcentre Plus — the UK's one-stop service for administering state benefits and helping claimants into work. By opening the `black box' of adviser- claimant interviews for the first time, the study produced the following key impacts:

  1. Policymakers in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and on the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) gained an evidence-based understanding of a key area over which they have policy control;
  2. Consequently, DWP policymakers and Jobcentre Plus managers made policy changes with respect to adviser-claimant interviews;
  3. Through these policy changes and our training workshops, recommendations from our study have helped improve the service delivered by advisers to benefits claimants.

Beneficiaries were those claiming state benefits, Jobcentre Plus advisers and managers, and DWP and other Government policymakers.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

CHE01 - Resources in the National Health Service (NHS)

Summary of the impact

York research has, continuously since the early 1990's, underpinned the methods by which a substantial proportion of the total NHS budget is allocated by the Department of Health to the organisations providing or arranging healthcare. Despite numerous NHS reforms, our research has produced formulae appropriate to each new system. These formulae have driven NHS policy on allocations across geographical areas and health care administrative entities in England, thereby ensuring that the population of approximately 55 million people receives a share of over £90 billion of healthcare resources that is fair and better reflects relative health care needs.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Economics: Applied Economics

PHYS01 - A New Paradigm for Exchange Bias in Polycrystalline Films

Summary of the impact

A new procedure for the measurement and characterisation of polycrystalline exchange bias systems has been developed which has impacted significantly the manufacture of computer hard drive read-heads by companies such as Seagate Inc and Western Digital Corp. The new measurement procedure has enabled a typical 40% increase in the thermal stability of the antiferromagnetic materials used in computer hard drive read heads. The procedure has also improved the manufacturing process of the read-heads giving increased material performance and has resulted in a ~25% improvement in the resolution of detecting a bit.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Analytical Chemistry
Engineering: Materials Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences: Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology

ELEC01 - Automatic Diagnosis and Monitoring of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Summary of the impact

Bio-inspired computer algorithms, developed by Dr Stephen Smith at the University of York, have been integrated with commercially available hardware that analyse patients' movements to diagnose and monitor a range of neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Clinical studies undertaken in the UK and USA report a diagnostic accuracy exceeding 90% - a 15% improvement on current clinical practice. A new spinout company, ClearSky Medical Diagnostics Ltd, has licenced four products exploiting this technology to nine health centres in the UK, USA, Singapore, Australia and UAE, transforming clinical testing with improved diagnosis and monitoring of patients in hospitals and their own homes.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Engineering: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

COM02 Real-Time Operating Systems (RTA-OSEK & RTA-OS) - Confidential

Summary of the impact

Impact:

The underpinning research was exploited to design an exceptionally efficient Real-Time Operating System (RTOS), used in automotive Electronic Control Units (ECUs), and its associated schedulability analysis tools. Since 2008, the RTOS has been deployed in 50 to 55 million new ECUs each year. The RTOS has been standardised upon (used by default in all ECUs) by [text removed for publication]. ([text removed for publication] in terms of world-wide automotive powertrain systems suppliers. [text removed for publication] all rank in the top [text removed for publication] world-wide for chassis electronics). The RTOS is used in cars produced by [text removed for publication] as well as many others. Revenues from the RTOS exceed [text removed for publication] per year.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Computer Science and Informatics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Information and Computing Sciences: Computer Software
Economics: Applied Economics

MAT05 - Balanced Harvest: Mathematical underpinnings of a sustainable fisheries policy

Summary of the impact

Mathematical models recently developed in York have improved our understanding of the dynamics of marine ecosystems. They underpin paradigm-changing proposals to orient fisheries policy towards a "balanced harvest" and away from the traditional selective harvesting of species and sizes. These proposals have:

  • influenced, and are now being actively pursued by, international NGOs involved in shaping the future direction of fisheries policy worldwide;
  • informed and stimulated debate among policy makers in the EU Parliament and elsewhere;
  • been incorporated into long range planning for Norwegian fishery management.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences: Fisheries Sciences

HIS02 - Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture

Summary of the impact

The History Department's Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture (CSCC) employed its research expertise in religious history to improve the understanding and sustainability of historic churches and cathedrals. These together form England's largest single 'estate' of built heritage with over 11 million visitors each year. From 2008 the Centre developed an extensive programme of national partnerships, which have led to significant and wide-reaching impact:

(i) creating new aids to help visitors engage with sacred sites

(ii) encouraging tourism and enhancing access to these national and international heritage sites for people from all cultural and faith backgrounds

(iii) delivering professional development activities for clergy, lay leaders, church architects, diocesan staff, heritage staff and volunteers

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies: Religion and Religious Studies

ECO05 - Characterising uncertainty and value of information in health care decisions

Summary of the impact

Research at York has had a direct impact on national guidance about the use of health technologies in the NHS. It provided methods that are used to assess whether a technology is expected to be a cost-effective use of NHS resources, how uncertain this assessment is likely to be and whether additional evidence is sufficiently valuable to recommend further research to support its widespread use. It has had an impact on the technologies available in the NHS and the evidence available to support their use: improving patient outcomes; saving NHS resources and strengthening the evidence base for clinical practice. It gives an explicit signal and incentive to manufacturers; informing development decisions and the type of evidence collected. It has had an international impact on how the adequacy of evidence is judged and research is prioritised; particularly in recent reforms in the United States (US) where the principles of this value of information (VOI) analysis are informing the prioritisation of $3.8bn for `comparative effectiveness research'. It has also informed the methods used in low and middle income countries, especially national agencies in health care systems in South East Asia and South America, as well as global funding bodies.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Economics and Econometrics

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Economics: Applied Economics

SPSW01 - Child Support Research and Policy Impacts

Summary of the impact

Research at York undertaken by Bradshaw, Skinner, Corden and Davidson, directly influenced child support policy throughout the period 2008-2013, informing the radical change that abolished the Child Support Agency and returned child maintenance to the hands of parents to make private agreements under the `Child Maintenance and Other Payments' Act 2008. It also contributed to the decision to disregard child support payments and thus allow child support to increase lone parent incomes and reduce child poverty. More recently our research has contributed to the evolution of policy under the Coalition Government in the 2012 `Welfare Reform' Act, which introduced new `relationship support' services to improve co-parenting relationships, reduce conflict and improve child well-being.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Demography, Policy and Administration

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