The projects’ impacts and trajectories: the relationship between research topics and impact pathways

The chapter explores the impacts achieved by the research projects conducted at the Department of Design between 2014 and 2019. Adopting the framework used in the Horizon Europe programme (HEu), the analysis answers the following research questions: (i) What impacts have been generated by the funded projects according to the 3 main categories (scientific, societal, technological/economic) identified in HEu? (ii) Which are the research topics that have mainly contributed to achieving the impact categories? (iii) How have the funded projects contributed to reaching the 9 Key Impact Pathways (KIPs) proposed in HEu? Findings reveal that all 32 research projects contribute to creating both scientific and societal impact. However, 21 research projects have also generated technological/economic impact. The Department of design has performed best in achieving the following 4 KIPs: strengthening the uptake of research and innovation in society; fostering the diffusion of knowledge and Open Science; creating high-quality new knowledge; and strengthening human capital in research and innovation. Research topics related to “design methodologies” have contributed significantly to generating all 3 types of impact. Other clusters - “distributed production”, “health”, “innovation studies”, “education” and “ICT”- have played important roles in achieving scientific and societal impact. The other most relevant clusters in reaching technological/economic impacts are “health” and “education”. The final discussion addresses how these impacts relate to the identity of the local scientific community in terms of research and innovation activities, reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of the research performed at the Department of Design in terms of impact.