Reviewed: May 2025

When research funders talk about the impact of their funded research, they often refer to research outputs (i.e. publications) or outcomes (i.e. new treatments or improved clinical practice) generated by research activity. Impact refers to the overall difference/change resulting from the research, such as finding a cure for a condition, or increasing survival rates. Impacts can be immediate or long-term and often stem from accumulated knowledge, not specific research findings or projects.

You can categorise research outcomes into these five areas. Some funders invest in projects that generate impact in one or two of these areas, while others may fund across a broader range of project types that generate impact in all five. 

Other guidance in this section includes:

• Methods for capturing research impact

• Types of impact evaluation

• Challenges to measuring impact

• Communicating research impact

• Using theory of change to evaluate the impact of funded research

• Research impact