PhD impact incubator (A2)
Register and submit your work through the SENSE A2 COURSE PORTAL
A2 coordinator: Anouk de Plaa, MSc
Society faces increasingly complex challenges, especially within the SENSE domains of Environmental Sciences and Climate Change, that urgently require (new) solutions, collaborations and knowledge integration between academic fields and with stakeholders outside of academia. PhD research offers valuable knowledge and insights that can contribute to addressing today’s and tomorrow’s societal issues. In other words: your research can have significant impact. But how do you create meaningful societal impact with your work?
1. Background
No one is better positioned to build a strategy, establish collaborations, and create impact with your research project, both within and beyond academia, than you.
The A2 course takes a practical, hands-on approach and focuses on developing skills related to scientific communication, interdisciplinarity*, transdisciplinarity*, co-creation, and societal impact. This advanced PhD course requires participants to design and carry out their own project, linking (their) research to a concrete pathway toward societal impact.
As not all research might offer a direct link to society, it is also possible to select a different topic for an A2 project, as long as participants try to connect research and society, and interactively engage with stakeholders. Within the scope of the A2 project, society can mean the general public, policymakers, companies but also scientists outside of your academic field. See section 4 for examples of pathways and approaches to the project.
Participants may co-design a project, or collaborate with other A2 participants, provided each person has a clearly defined individual role aligned with their personal learning goals.
Key requirements include:
- Work inter- or transdisciplinary
- Active engagement / cooperation with stakeholders outside your discipline and / or academia
The project should take between 2–4 ECts (56–112 hours; 1 ECts equals 28 hours).
2. Learning goals
By the end of this course, participants are able to:
- Strengthen their pathway to societal impact
Design and manage an innovative project that prioritizes inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration with stakeholders.
- Identify relevant stakeholders
Identify key stakeholders to engage or collaborate with, and clearly explain why these specific stakeholders were selected.
- Develop a strategy for communicating and collaborating with stakeholders
Design and adapt a communication and collaboration strategy, tailored to different stakeholders.
- Position their research in an interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary context
Reflect on how their research connects to other forms of knowledge (multi-, inter-, and/or transdisciplinary) and determine which steps toward knowledge integration are most important.
3. How the A2 Course Works
3.1 Starting the A2
- You may begin the A2 project at any time during your PhD by uploading your proposal through the SENSE Portal. The proposal consists of a number of questions about your activity, your stakeholders and your personal skills. We recommend you start in your 3rd year at the latest, to prevent added pressure during your final year. In case you prefer to check the suitability of your idea before uploading your proposal, you can do so by contacting the A2 coordinator via a2@sense.nl. See section 4 for ideas and examples for the A2 project.
- The proposal must be submitted before starting the project, so the coordinator can provide feedback and you can still adjust the project accordingly.
3.2 Working on the Project
- You will independently carry out the project. This can be done anytime during your PhD but we recommend to finish in your 3rd year.
- Keep track of the hours spent on preparation, the activity itself, and any follow-up work. This total number of hours determines the number of ECts awarded.
3.3 Finalizing Your A2 Project
- After finishing the project (or near completion in justified cases), submit a final report including a self-assessment of the A2 criteria. The form is available in the SENSE Portal. Your answers should reflect on your project and your original proposal.
- Based on your final report, the A2 coordinator assigns a pass/fail grade and awards the ECts.
A completed SENSE A2 project must account for 2–4 EC(56–112 hours).
4. Possible Forms of the A2 Activity
Key guiding questions for designing your activity are:
Who should know about my research? How can I create impact among my stakeholders? What activities will help me reach them? Can I work with them, or co-create part of my research with them?
With active engagement we mean that you go beyond providing people only with information and they have the opportunity to ask questions, to an activity where stakeholders can think along and provide feedback and input on how (elements of) your research outcomes will be as relevant and / or practically applicable as possible for them.
This can be done for example through:
- Workshops
- A working group
- Interviews with stakeholders
- By developing a manual / instruction document together with stakeholders
Another pathway is letting people who have not been exposed to (your) research before experience, partake and understand (parts of) your research, for example:
- Develop and let people play a (serious) game related to your research
- Let people partake in an experiment as a citizen scientist
- Develop an interactive class for children
- Showcase your research during an open day at the university, in a museum, zoo etc
Another option is the co-creation of a small project together with stakeholders where they are involved from start to finish, for example:
- Create an art piece / exposition / theatre play together with (an) artists
- Work together with a policy maker to develop a policy document based on your research
- Develop a (small) research project together with stakeholders
Activities that do not count towards your A2, are activities where you are only sending information for example giving a presentation, developing a website, article or blog or YouTube video. Arranging only logistics for a conference or trip are also not accepted as A2 activities. If you would also facilitate and interactive workshop during a conference or trip, then that element can be counted towards your A2.
The activities mentioned above are only some examples of different ways you can reach societal impact through active stakeholder engagement. So if you have another idea you feel is a good fit, do not hesitate to reach out and check.
As we all have different talents, strengths and skills you will need to think of a pathway and activity to societal impact that fits you as a person and as a researcher.
When designing your activity, consider your target audience, why did you select these stakeholders and not others, how will you engage with them in such a way they can provide input or there is an interactive learning experience.
- For questions or to check whether your project idea fits the A2 criteria, contact the coordinator: Anouk de Plaa – a2@sense.nl
5. Approval criteria for A2 projects
To receive approval, your project must include:
- Pathway to impact: A well-motivated pathway that aligns the activity and you’re your selected stakeholders.
- Active stakeholder interaction: Collaboration or direct interaction allowing stakeholders to meaningfully contribute.
- Clear link between activity and audience: Explanation of why the chosen activity fits the target audience and intended impact.
- Motivated scientific approach: Clear justification for the selected (inter-, or transdisciplinary) approach and its relevance to the project and impact.
- Societal impact: Demonstrated direct impact on stakeholders through active engagement with or involvement of stakeholders in the project’s development.
- Reflection on activity and impact: Evaluation of the activity, learning goals, scientific approach, stakeholder engagement, impact, and areas for improvement.
- Reflection on skill development: Description of skills improved or acquired during the project.
* Interdisciplinarity: integrating knowledge and methods from two or more disciplines to create a synthesized whole. It is not about the separate study of disciplines, but about the integration of knowledge and the creation of a “common ground” to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of a topic.
* Transdisciplinarity: builds upon this by also involving the integration of knowledge from academia with wider society, including non-academic stakeholders such as communities, industry, and government. This approach is crucial for jointly framing and co-creating new solutions to complex societal challenges.
