Impact UK Location: Stoke-on-Trent

REF impact found 32 Case Studies

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Autonomatic: the integration of digital technologies in the UK Craft and Designer-Maker sector

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the impact of research undertaken by Falmouth's Autonomatic Research Group on developments in the UK Craft and Designer-Maker sector. This sector consists of individual or small groups of creative practitioners producing high value individual and bespoke products in studio/workshop environments using ceramic, glass, metals, textile and mixed media. This sector has been slow to benefit from the digital economy for reasons including cost, perceptions of relevance, accessibility and training. Autonomatic has worked to highlight digital technologies relevance to small scale and bespoke manufacturing, increase accessibility, and provide opportunities for businesses' and communities' creative development.

Submitting Institution

Falmouth University

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Built Environment and Design: Design Practice and Management
Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media

Aynsley China Research and Impact via Flux Stoke on Trent

Summary of the impact

In late 2010 Professor Sanderson decided to form the Flux ceramics spin-out company at Staffordshire University in order to exploit a significant market gap he had discovered via his KTP research project for Aynsley China Ltd., Stoke-on-Trent. Flux has been able to exploit the market gap discovered in a way that Aynsley China was unwilling to pursue. Flux has produced cutting edge ceramic tableware design that has been successful in terms of both sales and recognition as a valuable contribution to contemporary tableware design. Flux won the Home and Gardens Design Award in 2012.

Submitting Institution

Staffordshire University

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Design Practice and Management

The impact of innovation in creative practice through material e

Summary of the impact

The work of the MTP research group can evidence significant impact upon the field of applied arts practice, industry, public audiences and education through material and process related innovations leading to formal and conceptual advances and their application in social contexts. Exemplary work by Cummings has brought the technique of glass casting into the main stream of studio glass practice; Heeney has reformed industrial working practices concerning traditional cutting boxes and soda-firing for use in architectural scale work; Brennand-Wood has reformed cultural perceptions of ornament through the reinterpretation of textile ornament in the context of cultural and political commentary.

Submitting Institution

University of Wolverhampton

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Design Practice and Management
Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Developing Leadership in FE: the Practitioner Research Programme.

Summary of the impact

In response to the declining number of applicants for leadership posts in Further Education, David Collinson developed the Practitioner Research Programme. Funded by the UK Government's Learning and Skills Improvement Service, the programme offered FE leaders and managers the opportunity to produce research-informed answers to challenges they were facing in their own practice. Findings were developed into 88 practitioner research reports that were disseminated to every FE college in England and Wales and made available online. Research engagement enhanced knowledge and understanding of leadership issues, stimulating organisational change and improving the performance of individuals, teams and organisations. Key themes were presented at a national conference where outstanding projects received awards for the impact of research on their own FE organisation, the local community and leadership development. Findings were extensively cited in the `Independent Commission on Colleges in their Communities' report, and in the Foster Review of UK FE.

Submitting Institution

Lancaster University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Specialist Studies In Education
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Effects of Tourism on Wild Primates

Summary of the impact

This case study details the impact of a body of research exploring the effects of tourism on wild primates. Our findings have been communicated to a range of conservation organisations, government bodies, tourism associations and other parties, and used by them to promote wider public appreciation of tourism-related conservation issues, and to inform development of guidelines relating to primate tourism. In addition, we have engaged the public with this work through a range of traditional and online media. Through local, national and international consultation and collaboration, our research is having a significant impact on the wider approach to primate tourism.

Submitting Institution

Roehampton University

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Clinical Sciences
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Enhancing the evidence base for child health interventions

Summary of the impact

Childhood obesity is an increasing problem in the UK with roughly one in seven school aged children in Scotland and England being classified as obese. The picture is similar in Wales where the prevalence is one in eight. The direct cost of obesity to the NHS is estimated to be £4.2bn a year, with this set to rise if the causes of childhood obesity are not addressed. The contribution of the research described below to tackling this issue is manifold: it has enabled the development and improvement of child health interventions/programmes; it has allowed commissioners and programme leads to make more informed decisions about investment in these interventions/programmes; and it has contributed to the development of regional healthy weight strategies and national guidelines on weight management.

Submitting Institution

University of Worcester

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Nutrition and Dietetics, Public Health and Health Services

Influencing the provision of affordable credit in local authority areas under-served by banks and building societies

Summary of the impact

Leyshon and French's research on the geography of UK bank and building society branch closures influenced the decision by the Financial Inclusion Taskforce to target 25 under-served local authority areas for additional support from the government's £42m Growth Fund between 2008 and 2011. The Growth Fund, which is targeted at Credit Unions, Community Development Financial Institutions and other, not-for-profit `third sector' lenders, enables financially excluded households to access credit on more affordable terms.

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Sociology

1. Mathematics and Healthcare: Saving Lives and Reducing Costs

Summary of the impact

Research conducted at the School of Mathematics at Cardiff University has engineered lifesaving, improvements to UK healthcare systems. New mathematical models, accounting for the complexity and diversity of the health system, have been created and applied in a variety of contexts to markedly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of a wide range of healthcare services — at policy, commissioning and operational levels. The extensive benefits include:

  • Reducing the mortality of trauma patients across South London by 54% (equating to 0.7 additional survivors out of every 100 patients for the period 2010-2012, rising to 4.2 in 2013)
  • Reducing the mortality of stroke patients across South London by 60% through the creation of a new Stroke Unit, based on the research findings (the services were rated as the best in the country by the National Sentinel Audit 2010 organised by the Royal College of Physicians).
  • Realising net efficiency gains of £1.6m per year in the emergency department at University Hospital of Wales;
  • Provision of hospital capacity planning tools in use across the UK

This work has been disseminated nationally and internationally, in the media and at a range of events designed to engage the public with Mathematics. Therefore the impacts claimed in this case study are health, economic benefits and public engagement.

Submitting Institution

Cardiff University

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics, Statistics
Economics: Applied Economics

Professor Rob Kesseler’s collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Summary of the impact

Kesseler's research collaboration with scientists at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew during his NESTA Fellowship (2002-2005) has allowed insights previously only accessible to a small number within the scientific community to reach a wide audience and impact on public understanding of fruit and seed biology. Unlike other works on the subject that are solely aimed at a scientific audience, the books Pollen: The Hidden Sexuality of Flowers (2004), Seeds: Time Capsules of Life (2006) and Fruit: Edible, Inedible, Incredible (2008) produced in collaboration with Kew scientists Dr. Madeline Harley (Pollen) and Dr. Wolfgang Stuppy (Seeds and Fruit) target a wider audience by revealing beautiful complex forms and structures, via scanning electron micrographs of fruits, seeds and pollen. The publications have found a worldwide audience and the work has had an influence on education in schools.

Submitting Institution

University of the Arts London

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

Statistical methods for urgent medical care call centres and sustainable transport

Summary of the impact

The Northern Doctors Urgent Care Group, a not-for-profit organisation that delivers out-of-hours urgent medical services for the NHS, achieved significant efficiency savings and improvements in-patient care as a result of adopting statistical assessment and forecasting processes, developed by Durham University. These improved processes also featured in the Group's successful competitive bids for two new contracts worth £9.2M per year. In addition, the Durham methodology was adapted to assess the results of a Government programme to encourage cycling in six UK towns, producing data on cycle use that helped to influence subsequent allocations of about £700M for sustainable transport projects.

Submitting Institution

University of Durham

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Econometrics

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