| Title | Impact Academy - Introduction to Theory of Change in Research and Impact |
| Category | Research |
| Overview | The Theory of Change is an issue-framing tool that research funders like the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council have started to include in their calls for proposals, in particular for challenge-driven or impact-oriented research projects.
It has more widely been used in planning and programme development, development cooperation, advocacy and monitoring and evaluation contexts, to create change, assess effectiveness of initiatives and communicate to stakeholders. As we’re seeing in the research context, the approach can contribute to research design, routes to impact and research evaluation. As it is increasingly being used in calls for proposals, knowledge of how to develop a strong ToC can also help with the success of funding bids.
In this in-person session we will hear from academic colleagues at Essex who have successfully employed ToC frameworks at different stages of research, from developing their research and impact proposals to delivery and evaluation of projects.
The session is aimed at academic and research staff at all levels. Participants will have the opportunity to share their own ToC frameworks in progress for peer feedback.
After this session you will:
Understand how Theory of Change approaches are used by selected research funders;
Understand the strengths and limitations of using Theory of Change approaches from real research and impact project example. |
| Learning outcomes | |
| Presenter | Kai Yin Low |
| Location | 4SW.6.31 |
| Campus | Colchester campus |
| Date and time | 10:00 to 12:00 Tuesday 25 February 2025 |
| Duration | 02:00 |
| Available places | 11 |
| University of Essex employee | Use the link provided above to book your place via HR Organiser. |
| Partner institution | Please discuss with your point of contact at your Partner Institution in the first instance. |
| Student Union contractors; PhD students | Please contact the Organisational Development team. |