To strengthen our understanding of violence against women and violence against children, and to prevent it, we need research that can make a real impact by providing an evidence base for programs, policies and advocacy.

There is an urgent need to maximise the uptake, use and impact of research, and a parallel requirement to minimise research ‘waste’ and develop research programmes that include plans for real-world impact as part of their foundation.

The SVRI supports impactful research through its Grant-Making Programme in low- and middle-income countries. Our grant-making is grounded in feminist principles and acknowledges and addresses imbalanced power dynamics between donors and researchers, partnerships between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, and between researchers and practitioners.

The SVRI’s approach to research impact recognises that it is a journey to get to this ultimate goal. The SVRI differentiates between three related but distinct concepts:

Research uptake: The process of people becoming aware of and interested in research.

Research use: What people do with research.

Research impact: What difference the research makes.

A researcher may have different goals at different times depending on the stage of research project, the breadth and depth of available evidence, and contextual factors that help or hinder research uptake, use and impact.

The SVRI takes a systems approach to exploring the pathways to research impact. This means not relying on linear models that suggest research evidence just needs to be ‘pushed’ or ‘pulled’ into policy and practice settings. Rather, we give consideration to the evidence ecosystem as a whole, supporting researchers to understand where they fit in and focusing on using connections and engagements with different parts of the system to influence lasting change.

SVRI Course: Pathways to Research Impact

The SVRI offers a free online course and downloadable guide that aims to equip researchers to take steps to maximise the impact of the research they do. The course and guide are tailored for researchers working in the fields of violence against women and violence against children in low- and middle-income countries.

The Pathways to Research Impact course is suitable for researchers at any stage of their career (including students who are completing a higher degree by research, such as a masters or PhD) and working in any context (including universities, research institutes and NGOs).

The course provides a range of insights and skill development opportunities so that all participants can find value in the learning journey.

The course manual is available to download here.