Pathways to Impact, Interview with Esther De Smet (PARTHENOS Training Video)
Channel: Parthenos Project
Date: 24/01/2019

Esther De Smet gives several vivid examples that underline aspects of societal and research impact related to research infrastructures especially in the context of a university. For her work as a policy advisor the societal impact plays an important role for which Ghent University has set up and is using several research infrastructures. She vividly describes which changes are needed in the system related to (societal) impact. 

Chapters Video Esther De Smet: 
00:00-00:20 Can you please introduce yourself in a few words? 
00:20-02:50 Which infrastructure are you involved in? 
As Esther is working at the central level of a university and not directly involved in an infrastructure as such, she describes research instractructurs as springballs to impact or strategic platforms that provide for researchers spaces or pathways to impact (e.g. cooperations with libraries or museums). 
02:50-07:42 How do you define outreach and impact in terms of individual researchers? 
Esther first sheds light on the in her eyes harmful terminology confusion between outreach and impact. She explains that in the Flemish context “valorization” is used instead of “outreach” and what it means and how it related to “impact”.  
07:42-13:26 Do research infrastructures benefit from your work in terms of outreach?
Esther describes how she makes a difference (impact!) by linking researchers with other researchers and research infrastructures and trains researchers about impact and appropriates tools and strategies. Research infrastructures are hubs of people, knowledge, and tools and as groups are efficient pathways of impact.
13:26-17:11 What barriers and alternatives do you see to impact and outreach in terms of research infrastructures? 
Research infrastructures are a means to an end and a part of a wider academic and societal system. She underlines that there is a need to change the system concerning how researchers are evaluated, promotion and recruitment procedures, funding, more focus on societal impact etc.

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