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The pedagogic research undertaken by the School of Law has produced an ambitious and innovative model of clinical legal education: the in-house live client model, which offers a university-based free legal service offering full representation to private clients and NGOs in the form of the Student Law Office. The Student Law Office integrates supervised legal service in the law curriculum, thereby delivering free access to justice to the wider community whilst benefiting the learning environment. Impact is three-fold:
African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus; referred to as `AWDs' hereafter for brevity) have been classed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for 22 years. Large, well-managed captive breeding programmes provide a safety net to restore wild populations. However, the management of the AWD population has been difficult owing to an incomplete family record of captive AWDs, which risks introducing genetic disorders caused by inbreeding. A genetically informed management plan developed by University of Glasgow researchers has provided a genetic measure of diversity and establishes a genetically informed pedigree, which is used in the European Endangered Species Programme for African Wild Dogs. This has introduced a more informed means to manage the captive AWD population, to maintain the genetic diversity of the species across the European zoo network (roughly half the world's captive AWD population), with 53 zoos in 16 European countries (and Israel) currently participating.
Bladder cancer is the fifth most common form of cancer, with over 70% of cases presenting as non-muscle invasive bladder carcinomas (NMIBC). Research in the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics at the University of Bradford led to the evaluation of Apaziquone (EO9) in phase II clinical trials against high risk NMIBC in The Netherlands, and two multi-centre phase III clinical trials involving 106 centres across the USA, Canada and Europe. A total of 1,746 patients with low or high risk NMIBC received EO9 and significant reductions in the rates of recurrence at two years have been reported. Our research has impacted upon the health and welfare of patients with NMIBC.
Research by Marianne Odlyha and her group at the Department of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, has led to the development of minimally invasive analytical methods and portable tools (dosimeters) for assessing damage to historical artefacts. These dosimeters are now in use at locations around the world, including the Tate Gallery's store rooms, English Heritage properties (Apsley House) and museums in Ghent, Cracow and Mexico. Methods for assessing damage, and for mitigation of pollutant impact on objects in museum enclosures, have been disseminated to conservation professionals through workshops and training courses held across Europe. The assessment and prevention of damage is vital to conserve the cultural as well as the monetary value of artefacts.
Exeter Drama's research in Applied Theatre has had impact in the improvement of community understandings of mental health, providing professional development for medics and teachers, and providing and informing training in applied and community theatre. This case study outlines the impact of last twenty years of research and performance practice in applied theatre, developed by Honorary Research Fellow (2005-) and former senior lecturer (1990-2005) John Somers, and continued in the work of Fiona MacBeth, Kerrie Schaefer, Sarah Goldingay, Anna Harpin, and Jane Milling. Somers developed new approaches to community theatre and has given presentations on this work internationally. Impact has also been achieved through Somers' founding of the applied theatre company Exstream (Exeter, 2001) and under his direction Exstream achieved a reputation for excellence through the development of interactive theatre, raising awareness of issues related to wellbeing, mental health, and creativity within the community.
Bangor's research into Austrian archaeology has since 2008 resulted in significant impacts on Austrian archaeological heritage management, the archaeology labour market, and relationships between archaeologists and metal detectorists. Specifically, the National Heritage Agency (Bundesdenkmalamt; `NHA') has made significant changes to its policies, especially putting contracts to tender and introducing the first minimal standards for archaeological excavation, following a ministerial edict to change contract awarding practices. Recommendations on minimum salary levels for specific responsibilities in archaeological fieldwork have largely been adopted. The issue of how best to regulate metal detecting is being discussed on a national scale and attitudes towards detectorists are undergoing substantial change.
Research at Sussex has enabled the development of interactive virtual museums, which include the Church of Santa Chiara in the Victoria and Albert Museum`s Medieval and Renaissance Galleries, and Sierra Leone digital collections both online and also recently exhibited at the British Museum. These developments apply Internet, XML, 3D visualisation and database technologies in novel ways. Impacts of the research are social and cultural, through support for social cohesion and the public`s greater awareness and understanding of their cultural heritage; impacts are also in the area of public services, by enabling 2017memory institutions` to improve their service delivery by increasing the global reach of their exhibits and the depth of their engagement with visitors.
Developing renewable sources of energy has to go hand in hand with reducing energy demand through increased energy awareness and behavioural change. To this end a multidisciplinary consortium of researchers, led by Professor Christopher Howe (Biochemistry), have developed several biophotovoltaic (BPV) devices for off-grid electricity generation, and as educational tools. This has resulted in impact on commerce (i.e. the acquisition of a BPV spinout company by Ortus Energy Ltd in 2009 through share exchange), on society and culture (an award-winning `Moss Table' developed by the consortium, which incorporates BPV technology, has been exhibited internationally since 2011 and has received extensive international media coverage) and on educational practices (a prototype BPV educational tool for schools has been developed by Howe and colleagues in 2013 and trialled with 6th form students).
The project led to improved public access to partner collections via a major website, informed the design of the £10m HLF-funded Birmingham History Galleries of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (including innovative multi-touch software), and firmly embedded a culture of cross-sector collaboration with impact in Birmingham, the Midlands, and beyond.
Research by Rowan and ERG colleagues Black, Bragg, Cutler, Duck has addressed the science and policy challenges faced by statutory authorities meeting their duty to implement the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000. Assessing the sensitivity of aquatic systems to physical, chemical and biological pressures is the central theme, and through a series of commissioned projects funded by UK environment and conservation agencies, the research has: