“How Does the Research Benefit Society?”

“How does your research benefit society?”
“I do not quite understand the question. What does it mean?”

This famous exchange between Takaaki Kajita, a professor at the University of Tokyo and a Nobel laureate in Physics, and students at an event after his Nobel win received widespread attention online, and many researchers expressed agreement with Professor Kajita.

I remember the incident well. I have personally interviewed Professor Kajita and I asked him about it. “Basic research does not aim to benefit society in a visible way,” Professor Kajita had said. I agree with this view. It’s a widely accepted opinion that pursuing the truth is the primary intent of a researcher, and if one wants to create something that will benefit the world, one should become a researcher in the private sector.

However, given that many countries today fund universities with large amounts of public funds and invest in academic activities as well as scientific and technological development, it is not untoward to expect academia to give back to society.

There are around 160 universities in the UK, almost all of which are national universities. As they are publicly funded, the subject of whether they have a responsibility to give back to society has sparked intense debate. Universities in the UK have now come under more rigorous scrutiny, and the government has implemented policies compelling them to introduce reforms.

The UK’s impact assessment mechanism has set a precedent where the government urges universities to bring about reform in a specific manner in response to the demands of society. Impact assessment is not necessarily about compelling researchers in every field to create a social impact—a view that kept resurfacing in our interviews with impact officers. Rather, it carries the government’s intent to produce a culture shift in academia, which includes researchers being mindful of the social impact when conducting research activities with the end goal that researchers and universities are perceived as entities that contribute to society.

Changing the culture of a university is a major undertaking that has its challenges. We must applaud the UK government and university staff who undertook such daring reforms despite knowing the risks of introducing impact assessment.

I have met various researchers from numerous countries, and in every country I have visited, I got the impression that universities are considered sacred institutions. The UK government’s call to researchers to show how their research contributes to society is truly innovative. Australia and Hong Kong have followed in the UK’s footsteps and have introduced an impact assessment framework. This is likely to become a global movement. In September 2019, I conducted a seminar on impact assessment at an event in Japan; the topic stoked interest in quite a few members in the audience. Judging by the trend worldwide, it will not be surprising

If, at some point, a similar system is introduced in countries like Japan, South Korea, and China where the volume of research is the highest in Asia.

If relatively unknown research is explained in a manner that is accessible to the general public and if its social impact is understood, the public’s support for the research is likely to increase, and the research is likely to attract financial support in the form of donations and research grants. People who currently frequent a university campus for a short period may find reasons to spend more time there as the university will have a lot more to offer. Stanford University has become a launchpad for startups in the United States. In the same way, research and society may become more connected through information, and there may be more universities that become known for a unique characteristic as they attract more people outside of academia.

Impact assessment may help answer the question “How does research benefit society?” As captured in this issue, the cases that underwent an impact assessment showed impact in areas that are not easily comprehensible, such as economic impact and medical development, and impact was seen in the state of affairs, mentality, behavior, and people’s knowledge. One of the impact officers we interviewed said, “Every researcher always considers the significance of the research when formulating a research plan. That is the starting point of the impact of their research.” Another impact officer noted, “Following the introduction of impact evaluation, it became a norm for researchers to debate social impact when discussing a research plan. That in and of itself is a major impact.”

If we consider impact in a broad sense, can we not argue that all research offers some benefit, albeit in different forms? We need to wait and watch how this initiative, which started in the UK, spreads across the globe. I would like to see how Hong Kong and Australia implement their versions of impact assessment in the long run.

This article is a part of ScienceTalks Magazine issue Making Research Impact Exciting: What Universities Can Learn from REF 2014.