On 7th October 2021, Dr Julie Bayley (LILI) and Dr David Phipps (York University, Toronto) were invited to deliver a talk to 200+ Association of Commonwealth Universities Ambassadors on research impact. The event, run twice during the day to accommodate multiple time zones, covered impact definitions, how impact fits into the broader academic landscape, and how it can be embedded into practice into an achievable and meaningful way. During the event Julie and David answered a range of questions, but such was the fantastic engagement of all the delegates time ran out before everything could be answered!

Following the event, David and Julie compiled answers to the following remaining questions, since shared by the ACU here:

• How might a university determine research themes?
• The societal impact of research from most universities is often not well captured in the promotion of researchers, how can we influence our universities on this?
• Sometimes impact occurs despite institutional support. What happens when the agendas of the researchers and the university are aligned?
• What quality assurance parameters can be applied to research impact?
• How can research impact be mainstreamed into the university research and development agenda to support the Institutional Advancement strategy?
• Could partnership agreements and joint research agreements include a section on impacts to encourage other partners to consider impacts more thoroughly?
• What can universities do to make impact?
• Research impact is seen as citations in many universities. What is the distinction between research impact and citation and how do we shift this perception in our universities?

Thanks to the ACU for the invitation and opportunity to provide answers post-event