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RESEARCH IMPACT
SUMMIT

FREE ONLINE EVENT

23rd & 24th November 2026



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Watch all summit interviews and presentations.


Free access for 72 hours from release.

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Ticket for good

($10 AUD)

 When you purchase this ticket, something amazing happens.


You get summit access for 72 hours, and through our giving partner B1G1, we will sponsor one day of vocational or college education for a student in the Philippines.

Suport Education

Welcome to the Research Impact Summit 2026

Research Impact in the Age of AI

The Research Impact Summit returns in November 2026 with a timely and future-focused theme: Research Impact in the Age of AI. As artificial intelligence and large language models rapidly reshape how research is produced, communicated, evaluated, and used, this year’s Summit turns its attention to what this means for impact, in practice.

Since 2016, the Research Impact Summit has brought together researchers, research managers, practitioners, and policy-adjacent professionals from around the world to explore what it really takes to create, evidence, and sustain impact. In 2026, we are looking forward, not just at new tools, but at new ways of working, new risks and responsibilities, and new opportunities to strengthen the link between research and real-world change.

This year’s programme will explore how AI is already changing:

  • How research impact is planned, articulated, and mapped

  • How evidence of impact is generated, curated, and reviewed

  • How research is translated, communicated, and taken up by users

  • How institutions, funders, and practitioners can adapt responsibly and strategically

What to Expect in 2026

  • Expert interviews on how AI and large language models are reshaping research, impact pathways, and research management
  • Practical sessions on using AI to support impact planning, narrative development, evidence curation, and engagement, without losing rigour or judgement
  • In depth discussions on ethics, integrity, skills, and governance in an AI-enabled research impact ecosystem
  • Case-informed perspectives from across disciplines and sectors on what is already changing, what is not, and what should not be automated
  • Tools, methods, and workflows for working more effectively in an AI-augmented impact environment

Why Attend?

The Research Impact Summit 2026 is for anyone working at the intersection of research, impact, and decision-making who wants to move beyond hype and focus on what actually works. This is not about replacing expertise with technology. It is about understanding how to use new capabilities wisely, responsibly, and strategically to strengthen the quality, credibility, and usefulness of research impact.

Whether you are a researcher, research development professional, impact practitioner, funder, or policy-facing specialist, this Summit will help you:

  • Make sense of how AI is changing impact work right now

  • Identify where human judgement still matters most

  • Build confidence in using new tools without compromising standards

  • Prepare for what the next phase of impact practice will require

Join us in November 2026 to explore how research impact is evolving in the age of AI and how we can shape that future with intent, care, and purpose.

Summit Speakers

More exciting speakers coming soon!

Past Summit Highlights

 

What are people saying about the summit

I wanted to say a big thank you and congratulations on the Summit

Congratulations on the Summit. I’ve only managed to watch two talks so far because of work – Adam Levine and Sarah Morton, and attended the first networking session – but plan to get through the rest this week. The topics and interviews were really fantastic and so much to digest and followup. Such amazing speakers with great insights. I’m looking forward to sharing what I learnt with my internal Unimelb network. I hope it has been a really productive activity for you and helped build your business. I really think impact is going to boom as a focus for unis in the coming year. Once we deal with the loss of jobs and COVID most unis will have to work out how they are going to support impact. The EI assessment is looming and most have no idea how they will track and identify impact, let alone building capabilities in this area.

Joann Cattlin
Manager
Research Engagement and Impact, Melbourne Law School

I just wanted to say thank you very much for organising and expertly running the RIS.

Thank you very much for organising and expertly running the RIS. I particularly appreciated the ability to spend yesterday and today catching up with some of the sessions after a very busy Tuesday on other meetings. I am Director of one of NZ’s 11 national Science Challenges and am putting a lot of thought into how we measure impact as our mission is to ‘enhance the capacity of NZ to use physical sciences and engineering’. How you measure enhanced capacity, which is essentially behavioural change is my challenge at the moment. I’ve taken copious notes from the sessions and ordered Kat Smith’s book! By the way, like the CRIs, the NSCs have to submit 5 impact case studies to MBIE each year as well. The NSCs are “mission-led” so we have been experimenting with what that means in practice eg innovating ways of forming new teams around a specific mission, eg we are running a process at the moment to address new Biosecurity Technology for NZ. 

Summit Attendee
Research Impact Summit

When is the Research Impact Summit?

Even if it is not in your timezone, all recordings are available free until midnight Wednesday 11th September at midnight AEST. Join us online if you can, and if not, watch at your leisure

Summit 2026 Dates and Times

A Global Event

41 Countries participated in the 2025 Research Impact Summit!
Registrations from around the globe

2024 Countries

Here’s what we will be talking about:

This exclusive online event is broken down into the following sections:

Embedding Impact in Research Design and Planning

Embedding Impact in Research Design and Planning

You’ll learn strategies for incorporating impact considerations from the very beginning of the research process, such as through setting clear objectives and identifying potential pathways to impact in research proposals.

Fostering a Culture of Research Impact

Fostering a Culture of Research Impact

We examine the importance of leadership in promoting a culture of research impact, as well as the institutional changes required to support such a culture, including policies, incentives, and performance metrics.

Building Research Impact Competencies

Building Research Impact Competencies

Ideas to provide training and professional development to build researchers’ skills and expertise in translating research into impact, including training programs, workshops, and mentorship opportunities.

Collaborative Approaches to Research Impact: Engaging Stakeholders and Partnerships

Collaborative Approaches to Research Impact: Engaging Stakeholders and Partnerships

You’ll learn strategies for incorporating impact considerations from the very beginning of the research process, such as through setting clear objectives and identifying potential pathways to impact in research proposals.

Measuring and Rewarding Research Impact: The Role of Funding Agencies and Evaluation Systems

Measuring and Rewarding Research Impact: The Role of Funding Agencies and Evaluation Systems

We examine how funding agencies and evaluation systems can contribute to creating a culture of research impact by prioritizing and rewarding projects with a clear focus on real-world impact.

From Dissemination to Engagement: Strategies for Effective Knowledge Mobilization

From Dissemination to Engagement: Strategies for Effective Knowledge Mobilization

The importance of active knowledge mobilization in achieving research impact, discussing various approaches to engage stakeholders and promoting the uptake of research findings into policy and practice

What makes this event different? 

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#1 – Learn from others experience, hear from the experts how research impact can be done more efficiently and effectively

Don’t spend years trying to “figure it out” and learn everything for yourself. Why waste your precious time experimenting when you can learn directly from people who’ve done what you want to do. The carefully selected speakers will empower you by teaching you what really works, so you can develop your own pathways to research impact.

#2 – Watch at your convenience

There’s no flight or hotel room to book and definitely no conference fee… not to mention the time away from your research. You can watch the sessions online at your own convenience, and each interview will be live until midnight 11th of September AEST.

#3- Action packed interviews with researchers, translation experts and policy drivers

No boring talking heads! You get to see the expert speakers, and I have a real and raw conversation about a topic in-depth, with instant takeaways and actionable advice you can use immediately.

Who should watch the summit? 

  • Researchers & academics wanting to improve engagement with stakeholders external to the university.
  • University employees and research administrators wanting to better support research impact.
  • Research funders who fund impact activities but want to hear the realities faced during the process.
  • Early career researchers that want to get ahead of the rest, stand out and create a big impact from their research.
  • People that want to hear about the latest tools, tips, tricks, trials and tribulations of bridging the research to practice gap.

Research Impact
Matters 

Research impact has become the globally expected norm!

  • Academics are being asked to demonstrate that their research has impact.
  • Academics are now expected to provide evidence that their publicly funded research is making a difference to society in some way

This ever expanding requirement to show impact has caused some confusion, despair, and even mild panic among the academy.

What You’ll Learn 

  • Strategies for successful stakeholder engagement
  • Considerations for collaboration with non-academic stakeholders
  • Alternative and innovative ways of disseminating your knowledge
  • Institutional and organisational strategies to support research translation and impact 
  • The value of intermediary organisations in facilitating impact
  • Hear from research funders about how they fund translation and measure the impact of their investment in research
  • The key elements that go into writing a research impact case study
  • Benefits, pitfalls and interesting insights on the impact agenda globally
  • International perspectives on knowledge translation and research impact
Picture of Tamika Heiden as Host of the 2023 Research Impact Summit

Your Host

Hi, I’m Tamika Heiden – host of the Research Impact Summit.

I’m a knowledge translation and impact expert and the director and founder of the Research Impact Academy, a consultancy working to bridge the research-to-practice gap.

Since 2014, I have been supporting organisations such as research funders and universities to create, capture and communicate their impacts. I am always on the lookout for how I can help others to create greater benefits and impact of the research endeavour, and I like to learn from the best.

Come join me and let’s take our research impact efforts to the next level.

I’ll see you in November 2026!

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