Impact UK Location: Liverpool

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Anya17

Summary of the impact

`Anya 17 is not just an opera. It's a campaign' (cast member's blog, http://tinyurl.com/ne64uqt).

Anya 17 (an opera about human trafficking), first performed in March 2012, generated wide media and civil society attention. 13 UK and international anti-trafficking campaigning groups have endorsed the opera and used it to raise awareness and help leverage their agenda to change legislation. Third sector and media attention has taken the research to a wider community than just the original audience, winning recognition and enabling follow-through of various kinds. Collaboration, publicity and support from NGOs has enabled Anya17 to further its reach internationally, with performances in Romania, Germany, the UK and the USA in the near future creating opportunities for developing further impacts on opera audiences, campaigning organisations, wider civil society and government in Europe and America.

Submitting Institution

Royal Northern College of Music

Unit of Assessment

Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media, Performing Arts and Creative Writing
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Applications of Singularity Theory and 3D Modelling in Arts and Retail

Summary of the impact

Professor Peter Giblin (Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Liverpool), together with collaborators, used methods from singularity theory to develop an approach for recovering 3-d information from 2-d images, such as photos. In the past decade, these have been implemented and built upon by software engineers, leading to significant cultural, economic and societal impacts. These include the creation of an innovative 25m high sculpture of the human body in the Netherlands by the sculptor Antony Gormley and the virtual modelling of clothing on online clothing websites such as Tesco's (Virtual Changing Room by Tesco/F&F). These have reached thousands of consumers worldwide and represent a significant commercial success for the company which developed the software.

Submitting Institution

University of Liverpool

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Pure Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

Art as an agent for change in the work of Professor Lucy Orta

Summary of the impact

Professor Lucy Orta's work, is developed in creative partnership with Jorge Orta, as Lucy + Jorge Orta, and tackles global issues that affect all our lives. Their collaboration sets out to utilize art as an agent for awareness and change, with public dissemination aimed at triggering new thinking and action on issues related to sustainability. Their work has led to an enhanced public understanding of these issues and its impact is evidenced by high level commissions; partnerships with prestigious institutions; media coverage; audience figures; and public engagement activities.

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)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Built Environment and Design: Architecture

Art in the Public Realm

Summary of the impact

Collaboration between the Liverpool Biennial and Liverpool School of Art & Design (LSAD) has stimulated public awareness of Biennial commissioned art and enlarged its presence in the social life of the city in two ways: by extending the opportunities for local communities to participate in public art projects in the region; and by improving the opportunities to talk about and share experiences of Biennial art.

Submitting Institution

Liverpool John Moores University

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Art Theory and Criticism, Visual Arts and Crafts
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Biocompatible polymer coatings for the long-term implantation of biomedical devices in humans

Summary of the impact

Biomedical devices that need to be implanted into the body typically experience the so-called foreign-body reaction: proteins adhere to the surface of the devices, leading to rapid loss of function and, eventually, to a requirement for replacing the device. Between October 2006 and September 2011, The University of Reading, in collaboration with the UK SME BioInteractions Ltd., developed and evaluated a range of new polymers for coating implantable biomedical devices, especially coronary stents and catheters. The result was a coating system that can deliver a drug controllably over a pre-defined period, leading to the commercial biomaterials platforms AdaptTM and AssistTM. This work resulted in capital investment by Biointeractions Ltd and a substantial increase in their research staffing.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

Chemistry

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry
Engineering: Biomedical Engineering, Materials Engineering

British art and tradition: exploring an eclectic cultural heritage

Summary of the impact

This study outlines the ways in which Alexandra Harris, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Liverpool, has engaged public interest in modern British art and literature.
Harris has demonstrably encouraged both art-world professionals and members of the public to appreciate more fully the rich variety of modern British art, and to realise its contemporary relevance in exploring British landscapes and identities. Between September 2010 and July 2013, her books, radio programmes, literary festival appearances, and collaborations with art galleries have had a major impact on cultural life. They have helped to raise the profile of British painting, and brought diverse audiences to challenging literature (especially the work of Virginia Woolf). They have heightened public consciousness of the ways in which contemporary debates and indeed the habits of daily life can be informed by cultural history, giving `the long view' on national identity, notions of `home' and tradition, and particularly the potent relationships between art and place.

Submitting Institution

University of Liverpool

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Building acoustics - contributions to European and International Standardisation

Summary of the impact

The impact of building acoustics research by the Acoustics Research Unit at Liverpool has been through knowledge transfer into Standardisation, guidance to industry and take-up by test laboratories. This is evidenced by the active and leading participation of Professor Gibbs and Dr Hopkins on International and European Standards committees, developing measurement and prediction methods for noise in buildings. The research provides the scientific basis of new test codes used by accredited test laboratories and acoustic consultants. It is also feeding into new test procedures developed by R&D teams of Boeing, Seattle, for the control of vibration-induced noise in aircraft.

Submitting Institution

University of Liverpool

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering
Built Environment and Design: Building

Changing the framework for industrial policy: from fixing market failures to shaping and creating markets

Summary of the impact

Research led by Professor Mazzucato has changed the framework used by UK and EU policy- makers to design innovation and industrial policy. Her work on The Entrepreneurial State has influenced how policy-makers think beyond a `market-failure' framework and use in its place a `mission-oriented' framework: not only fixing market failures but actively trying to shape and create markets. This new framework has fed into specific areas of sector-related policy including life sciences. The influence has been acknowledged directly in ministerial speeches; cited by a 2012 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills policy paper; and discussed extensively in the international media, including lead articles in The Economist, the Financial Times and Forbes which have recognised the `heretical' nature of this work.

Submitting Institution

University of Sussex

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

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

City in Film

Summary of the impact

The outputs of two AHRC-funded research projects included

  • a comprehensive database (launched in May 2009) of films about Liverpool, which includes rare and previously unknown or unseen material, and
  • new ways of curating film material using GIS software.

The beneficiaries of this work were individuals and organisations interested in cultural heritage. There were two kinds of impact:-

  1. Cultural impact through the preservation and interpretation of rare and previously unknown or unseen heritage films made about the city of Liverpool and Merseyside region. Also through the ease with which more than a million visitors to the Museum of Liverpool have been able to access a wealth of previously unseen historical material (including rare film footage) simply by touching an interactive map.
  2. Impact on professional methods and practices for museum curation. Following a series of workshops (May 2009-Dec 2010), curators at the new Museum of Liverpool decided to create an interactive map of digitised artefacts as part of the permanent exhibition in the History Detectives gallery (launched December 2011).

Submitting Institution

University of Liverpool

Unit of Assessment

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management 

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Closing the North West’s Prosperity Gap – Using the Liverpool Agility Methodology to Deliver a Productivity Improvement Strategy for Manufacturing SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) in the North West of England

Summary of the impact

This case study concerns the economic, commercial and organisational benefits gained from the application of original research undertaken between 1999 and 2013 by the Operations & Supply Chain group at the University of Liverpool Management School. The research has provided significant new thinking concerning the design of agile organisations and supply chains through the creation of frameworks and tools for the development of SME-focused, resilient business strategies. Since 2008, the application of the research has supported a priority component of the Future North West regional productivity strategy for the North West of England through the implementation of a wide range of economy-driving and productivity-enhancing industrial applications. These applications have: boosted the region's economy and the prosperity of its citizens; facilitated the growth of the region's manufacturing SMEs; supported the participation of SMEs in global networks; equipped SME owner-managers with the knowledge and skills to facilitate business growth; improved the professional behaviour and cognitive characteristics of employees, and led directly to 117 jobs and several businesses safeguarded, and 31 new jobs created.

Submitting Institution

University of Liverpool

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Information Systems
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management

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