There is no hiding from the impact agenda. The impact weighting of the Research Excellence Framework has been increased for 2021, and more recently the UK Government announced a new funding stream for knowledge exchange. But achieving impact isn't easy, especially for researchers early in their careers. If you ever have a spare week, or ten, it's worth reading through some of the 6,637 REF impact case studies on the HEFCE website. There are some brilliant and fascinating examples of how researchers have achieved impact, but what strikes me most is how different impact looks across different subjects. At the risk of being flippant, among many of the medical or technological examples there is a familiar pattern and a clear route to impact: make breakthrough; license drug/technology; save lives/millions. For social and political science (not to mention economics, languages, education, philosophy, etc.) the route to impact is much more fragmented. Among the 97 sociology case studies, for example, impact comes from numerous briefings of government officials and parliamentarians, before the academics join "networks" and "committees" discussing their research and wider issues. Their research is covered by national media, they meet even more people practitioners or third sector campaigning organisations to pass on their knowledge. And, after all that, and often a good deal more, sometimes there is a policy or practice change that can be pointed to as a direct impact, sometimes not. Central to much of the impact is "access". Prominent and experienced academics are more likely to get on the committees, know the right journalists and government officials, and have links into third sector organisations, etc. I worked with Professor Sir John Curtice, of election night fame, for a number of years. He didn't need much support. I advised and facilitated, but after 30 years in the game he knew Whitehall (and Holyrood) inside and out and they knew him. But many researchers, especially at the start of their careers, don't... Why isn't achieving impact easy? Pick the correct answer from the following options: - impact requires people to have perseverance - impact requires many people - not enough information - Impact requires access
Impact requires access

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Zoos are not my favorite places. I always wish the animals could be free. I can't think of anything "funny" I have seen at the zoo exactly although there has to be something. we used to go to Catskill Game Farm and Bronx Zoo in NY so I am sure there has to have been something notable, if not funny. At Catskill Game Farm there were Peacocks that walked around free and made startling noises. There were also punk flamingoes there that were amazing to see. Maybe the funniest (not so funny though) thing was in the area where you could feed deer and baby pigs so sometimes they'd all come around at once and mob you? My daughter wanted to feed who she wanted to feed but the deer and the pigs had their own ideas. The deer liked these crackers kind of like rye crisps and the baby pigs went for the bottles of milk or formula. When my daughter tried to pick and choose and just feed one suddenly she would be surrounded by many. I think my husband must have videos of what transpired. One of these days it might be entertaining to view them again. At the Bronx Zoo I remember going one or more years during the winter to see the animal light sculptures and huge block ice carving and the penguins and polar bears maybe? I can't remember anything funny happening. When we went out to San Diego around years ago during a business trip my husband got to go on then my daughter and I went with him. I took my daughter to the Zoo and Sea World but she was so young then and it was so long ago I can't recall much except standing on line to see the pandas and just collapsing on a open type tour after trying to carry her and a collapsible stroller and diaper bag all around. She was so young but seemed to enjoy jumping on some bouncy trampoline type thing at the Sea World. My husband might remember the funny things better than I do. What does the author do for a living? Pick the correct answer from the following options: - not enough information - She works at a bank - She is a computer programmer - She is unemployed
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not enough information

North Korea's release of three U.S. citizens may help pave the way for talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, but questions remain as to whether those talks will succeed. At the White House on Wednesday, Trump continued to speak cautiously about the coming summit, even while praising the North Korean leader for the prisoner release. "Everything can be scuttled," Trump told reporters. "A lot of things can happen a lot of good things can happen, [and] a lot of bad things can happen." North Korea on Wednesday granted amnesty to three Americans of Korean descent. They had been accused of espionage or trying to overthrow the government, charges widely seen as bogus. Pyongyang has detained at least 16 Americans over the past two decades, often attempting to use them as bargaining chips. All were eventually released, although Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old college student, died shortly after returning to the United States last year. A White House statement Wednesday praised North Korea's latest prisoner release as a "positive gesture of goodwill" ahead of the Trump-Kim summit, which is expected to take place as soon as next month. South Korea's presidential office said Pyongyang's decision was a "very positive" sign for a successful North Korea-U.S. meeting. The freeing of the prisoners coincided with a visit to Pyongyang by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who declined to say whether the release was a U.S. precondition for holding talks with the North. "I don't know the answer to that," Pompeo told reporters on the flight home. "It would have been more difficult [had the prisoners not been released]. ... I'm glad that we don't have to confront that." It's not clear what, if anything, the U.S. gave up in exchange for the prisoners. It's not even clear a concession was needed, since North Korea has for decades sought the presumed legitimacy provided by a summit with a sitting U.S. president. How long did the summit with North Korea last? Pick the correct answer from the following options: - a few weeks - not enough information - a month - a few days
a few days