The impact of Payback research: developing and using evidence in policy

The Payback Framework was developed during the 1990s, as a response to ministers wanting to know their return on investment in healthcare research. The framework allowed healthcare research funders to account for the money they spent, advocate for continued or increased funding, and plan to optimize outcomes by developing and applying funding policies. The framework has subsequently been adapted and applied beyond healthcare to demonstrate that research investments deliver ‘impact’ or payback of value to society. Organizations responsible for funding researchers and research projects, programmes and institutes have therefore shown considerable interest in research on the payback from research. In contrast, those responsible for allocating research infrastructure funding to universities via the Research Excellence Framework have shown little interest in developing an evidence base to inform decisions about how the ‘impact’ of university research can best be assessed and rewarded: they should be reaching out to those with expertise in research payback to inform the assessment of ‘impact’. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.