Robert Haché, vice-president research and innovation at York University, and David Phipps, executive director, research and innovation services at York University, representing Research Impact Canada (RIC), were honoured with the Real Impact Outstanding Contribution Award by Emerald Publishing on Nov. 20.
RIC is a pan-Canadian network of universities committed to maximizing the impact of academic research for the public good in local and global communities. It has been supporting impact practitioners for more than 12 years by sharing tools and building capacity.
“On behalf of RIC, David Phipps, executive director, research and innovation services, and I are honoured to receive this acknowledgement,” said Haché. “We look forward to RIC’s continuing to build Canada’s capacity to be a leader in creating value from knowledge by developing and sharing best practices, services and tools, and by demonstrating to relevant stakeholders and the public the positive impacts of mobilizing knowledge.”
Emerald Publishing manages a portfolio of more than 300 journals, well over 2,500 book titles and more than 1,500 case studies. It is committed to supporting meaningful, real-world impact. The Real Impact Outstanding Contribution Award, one of four awards bestowed by Emerald Publishing, celebrates the commitment to impact by the research community across the globe, honours the changemakers and brings together key stakeholders in the impact debate. The three other categories of awards are Real Impact Individual, Real Impact Team and Real Impact Institution. It is noteworthy that the Real Impact Outstanding Contribution Award is for outstanding achievement overall.
The Real Impact Outstanding Contribution Award aims to:
- raise the profile of individuals, teams and institutions that have placed real impact at the top of their agenda;
- recognize innovative approaches to impact;
- celebrate interdisciplinary research;
- bridge the gap between research and practice; and
- tell real impact success stories and showcase those driving the debate.
The judges were impressed with RIC’s vision of a globally leading network that enables researchers and their partners to demonstrate contribution to and impact of research excellence, and the fact that impact has been RIC’s sole objective, creating impacts on culture, society, health, economy and environment as well as on public understanding, beliefs and attitudes.
University of Lincoln Professor Julie Bayley, who headed up the panel of judges, said: “While there were many fantastic entries, the winners most strongly demonstrated all of, or specific areas of, the five Cs of impact health: commitment, competencies, co-production, connectivity and clarity. They represent some of the most inspiring work across the sector to broker research into practice or set in place the organizational structures to do so. It is a privilege to be able to formally acknowledge the valuable work of colleagues across the sector, and to highlight the efforts of so many to make a difference.”
To learn more about the awards, visit the website. To read the related press release from Emerald, go to the website. To learn more about RIC, visit the website.