Pre-conference workshop: Demonstrating Impact: Building Evidence that Matters

Taking place: Monday 7 September 2026, 2:00pm – 5:00pm (GMT+1), Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh

Researcher development practitioners are increasingly expected to demonstrate the value and impact of their work. Yet many of the outcomes they seek to influence, including researcher confidence, career development, collaboration, wellbeing, and research culture, are complex, long-term, and difficult to capture through simple metrics alone.

This interactive workshop explores how we can build a more credible and meaningful understanding of impact in researcher development. Drawing on approaches from evaluation, organisational learning, and evidence-informed practice, participants will consider how to move beyond satisfaction surveys and participation statistics to develop richer evidence portfolios that support learning, improvement, accountability, and strategic decision-making.

The workshop will draw on insights from Vitae’s Evidencing Researcher Development: Current Practice, Challenges and Implications report, exploring the forms of evidence available to researcher developers and considering which types of evidence are most valuable for different purposes and stakeholders. Through discussion, practical activities, and real-world examples, participants will reflect on the strengths and limitations of different approaches to evidencing impact within their own contexts.

Open to researcher development professionals at all levels of experience, the session will provide practical tools and frameworks that participants can adapt to their own institutional settings, whether they are new to evaluation or seeking to strengthen existing approaches.

By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

• Critically examine different understandings of impact within researcher development and related higher education contexts.
• Identify how stakeholder expectations influence what is regarded as meaningful and credible evidence.
• Distinguish between outputs, outcomes and longer-term impacts, recognising the challenges of attribution and contribution in complex systems.
• Develop an evidence strategy that draws on multiple forms of quantitative and qualitative evidence.
• Apply practical tools and approaches to strengthen the evaluation and communication

Who can attend and how do I book a place?

Attendees must hold a full conference ticket to attend the pre-conference workshop. It is free to attend for those attending the in-person conference. Places are limited to 30 and will be allocated on a first come first served basis (we will run a waiting list) – bookings for the workshop will open on THURSDAY 23^rd JULY 2026 at 12 noon GMT+1.

It will be possible to book on to this event without having booked a ticket for the conference yet. However, so that we can manage bookings, we ask that you book your conference ticket by Friday 7^th August 2026. After this date, we will cancel any pre-conference workshop bookings without an associated conference ticket and release them to the waiting list.

Please note: by registering your interest via the button below, this does not book you onto a place to the pre-conference workshop, only registers your interest in attending. On Thursday 23rd July at 12 noon GMT+1, the button will change to a ‘Book now’ button, from which time you will be able to book. Registering your interest is not enough to secure your place – you will need to return to this webpage from Thursday 23rd July 12 noon onwards in order to book your pre-conference workshop ticket.

If the tickets are showing as out of stock, then places are full. Please join the waiting list in case more tickets become available, by emailing events@vitae.ac.uk