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Northumbria University's research on the eighteenth-century novelist Laurence Sterne and on the literary significance of the Delaval family has had benefits for two arts and cultural organisations in the North East and Yorkshire. The research has secured new audiences and increased business activity and footfall for the Laurence Sterne Trust (LST), changed the emphasis of heritage interpretation at Seaton Delaval Hall (SDH) and expanded the range of activities offered by both organisations. We have developed long-term and sustainable relationships with both of our partners and are now co-designing collaborative projects with them.
University of Glasgow researchers have played a pivotal role in enhancing awareness and understanding of cosmology, relativity and gravitational-wave astronomy on the national and international stage.
Focusing on the lives and works of Dickens and Tennyson, this case study demonstrates how a team of literary researchers at the University of Portsmouth has promoted public re-engagement with Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight's literary heritage. Their research on questions of celebrity and social marginality has been adapted and exploited to interpret and disseminate the region's cultural capital through public events, websites, and publications. Encouraging a fresh look at Dickens, Tennyson, and Victorian life, the impact of this research has increased public understanding of Victorian issues, and prompted local stakeholders to re-evaluate existing knowledge, policy and commercial practice.
The literature of the Victorian era has an enduring popular interest, as evidenced by the plethora of film and television adaptations of novels and authors' biographies. Though this popularization has brought Victorian literature to the foreground, there is a need for the public to be better informed about this literature. Members of the English UOA are engaged in research into Victorian literature and have drawn on this research to help members of the public gain better understanding and deeper appreciation of this literature. They have achieved this through public lectures, seminars, and poetry readings, as well as at events organized through links fostered with local galleries.
Hull-based research on critical systems thinking has been used for public, private and community benefit in Australasia, due to pivotal partnerships with the International Centre for Complex Project Management in Australia and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) in New Zealand. Benefits include: the reconciliation of economic and environmental imperatives in NZ water management, valued at NZ$1.7bn of economic growth; NZ$6.2m for ESR projects serving government clients; improved stakeholder consultation on NZ science investments; the development of new systems thinking capacity in the Victoria Department of Primary Industries (Australia); and 5% cost savings in key Australian defence procurements.
Schizophrenia affects 1 in 100 people, with costs to society of £12 billion in England alone. Prevalence is similar across the world, with two thirds of people experiencing relapses despite medical treatment. Researchers at the University of Manchester (UoM) pioneered and disseminated psychological interventions for schizophrenia and related mental health problems which have led to improved outcomes for patients and families (e.g. 20% improvement in symptoms over standard treatment). We have implemented and delivered our intervention protocols, outcome measures, treatment manuals, and training programmes (with over 200 training courses delivered across the UK, Europe, USA, Asia, Australia and Africa). The impact of the research has been commended nationally and internationally by professional bodies (e.g., British Psychological Society, American Association of Behavior Therapy).
Research carried out at Northumbria has explored the relations between culture and medicine during the eighteenth century, resulting in an improved historical understanding of the way in which culture influences the experience and treatment of illness. The impact has been significant for members of the medical profession and more widely for health professionals, as well as making a positive impression on the general public. It has also influenced local work in theatre and arts as therapy. The research continues to have implications for our understanding of both popular and medical discourses regarding illness.
The Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow has played a major role in raising public awareness and enhancing understanding of the work, global reputation and iconic status of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns. This has been achieved by (i) forging Scotland-wide links between university, local authority and national collections of Burns-related material, making readily available the full extent of the country's rich holdings in this area for the first time; (ii) increasing and encouraging global awareness of and access to Burns's work through events, online resources and the use of social and traditional media; and (iii) convening an international network of Burns organisations and events. The Centre's exhibitions and performances have attracted upwards of 200,000 visitors and participants in the REF period.
Innovative research into gendered identities at the University of Hull, under the auspices of the Centre for Gender Studies and the Centre for Research into Embodied Subjectivity, led to the design and delivery of new curricula in higher education internationally including the European Union, the US and in Chile, India and Pakistan. Research on gendered identities provides the philosophical core of the curriculum for GEMMA (Erasmus Mundus Master's Degree in Women's and Gender Studies) delivered by a consortium of 7 universities within the AtGender (previously ATHENA) network. The relevant impact has been primarily on education (at an international level and especially in the area of curriculum development and knowledge transfer) and on public discourse. The beneficiaries are academics and students internationally, as well as pressure groups and artists concerned with gender identity. This impact is ongoing (the 7th edition of GEMMA commenced in 2013).
The work of the UK's largest radiocarbon measuring laboratory, at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC, University of Glasgow), has had a range of impacts including the identification of the remains of Richard III; [text removed for publication]; providing evidence to solve high-profile murder cases and to prosecute people trading animal parts from endangered species e.g. rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory. The laboratory also leads inter-calibration studies that provide quality assurance to >75% of the world's radiocarbon laboratories.