Welcome to Real World Impact

Sharon Parkinson shares her thoughts on being part of the judging panel at the 8th Annual University of Leeds Postgraduate Research Conference, highlighting the role impact and potential impact plays in the nomination process for the Postgraduate Researcher of the Year Award. I recently had the privilege of being on the judging panel for the 8th Annual University of Leeds Postgraduate Research Conference . Every year, each Faculty Director of Postgraduate Research Studies provides nominations for the Postgraduate Researcher of the Year Award taking into account the following criteria:   • Ability to communicate research to the non-specialist research audience in terms of, for example, application of findings for economic, social or cultural benefit; the significance of the contribution/potential contribution of the research to the academic subject area • Impact/potential impact of the research in terms of, for example, application of findings for economic or social ben

Professor Chris Brown, School of Education and Childhood Studies, University of Portsmouth and author of the newly published book   Achieving Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice in Education: EvidencED shares his experiences of working with  teachers and school leaders using high quality research evidence to improve specific teaching and learning in their schools Introduction Re search-informed teaching practice (RITP) involves teachers and school leaders engaging with high quality research evidence, with the purpose of using any insights gained to improve specific aspects of teaching and learning in their schools (Groundwater-Smith and Mockler, 2017).  Within this context, Research Learning Communities (RLCs) are groups of teachers, typically facilitated by a university researcher, who engage with research-evidence in order to enhance both their practice and also the practice of their colleagues. The development of RLCs RLCs have been developed from a program