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Audit - External Engagement and Knowledge Transfer
Following a Trial involving ACES and ICS, the University is conducting an external research-based engagement and knowledge transfer audit.
If you have received an email asking you to take part, please make sure that you have read the Guidelines and Instructions (see links below), then complete the form(s).
Audit Documents
Guidelines (PDF)
Guidelines (RTF)
Instructions for filling in Audit form (PDF)
Instructions for filling in Audit form (RTF)
Template of what online form looks like – not actual form (PDF)
Template of what online form looks like – not actual form (RTF)
Frequently Asked Questions about Audit
- Why is the University undertaking this Audit?
- Do I have to participate in this Audit?
- What should I do if I don’t have anything to report on?
- In what timeframe should the engagement/knowledge transfer have taken place?
- My engagement/knowledge transfer took place over several years. Which year(s) should I choose (for Question 8 of form)?
- What should I do if I was appointed in, or after, the Census Period (2003-2007)?
- Is the audit carried out on a group or individual basis?
- What if the engagement/knowledge transfer involved other Macquarie staff? Do we each need to fill in a separate form about it?
- What if there are/were more than five (5) other Macquarie staff involved?
- What do you mean by research-based “engagement” and “knowledge transfer”?
- What does “end-user” mean?
- What sorts of engagements/knowledge transfers should be reported?
- Why are you asking us to assess the response and extent of benefits to the end-user?
- I have been involved in several engagements/knowledge transfers. What should I do?
- Do I need to report on engagements/knowledge transfers that involve non-disclosure agreements (e.g. that relate to patents)?
- How do I report each engagement/knowledge transfer?
- Where can I find the audit form?
- How do I fill in the form?
- Can I partially complete a form and then come back to it later?
- Is it possible to have a copy of the answers that I submit?
- Why do I need to provide end-user details?
- Will you contact end-users without my knowledge?
- How will the Audit results be used?
Why is the University undertaking this Audit?
The University needs to compile a consolidated listing of its end-user engagement/knowledge transfer activities for several reasons:
(i) to comply with several Performance Indicators of Goal 4 of its Research Strategic Plan (to be a significant contributor to the nation’s economic, social and cultural well-being);
(ii) to help the University make a case for additional funding under the new Commonwealth Government’s “Compacts” program;
(iii) in preparation for the University’s audit by AUQA in April 2009;
(iv) in preparation for the Federal Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative;
(v) to assist External Relations in promoting the University’s research; and
(vi) to raise the consciousness of staff members involved in research to the concepts of impact and engagement and the associated value placed upon them by the University (and, we believe, the Government).
Do I have to participate in this Audit?
If you have been sent an email asking you to participate, yes. Only by involving all staff who may be involved in research can the University obtain a complete picture of the range and extent of its engagement with end-users of research.
What should I do if I don’t have anything to report on?
You must still complete the first five questions of the online form. The first four questions refer to your personal details (staff number, name, department, and preferred email address). In question five (Q5), you should select “No” to indicate that you do not have anything to report on. Then you should submit the form as per the instructions, leaving the rest of the form (Q6 onwards) blank.
In what timeframe should the engagement/knowledge transfer have taken place?
All engagements/knowledge transfers that took place in the period 2003-2007 should be reported. This includes engagements/knowledge transfers where only part of it took place in the 2003-2007 period.
Note that this is different from the former proposed RQF Impact assessment process, which required the research itself to be within the census period. Here it is the actual engagement/knowledge transfer that defines the date that must be within the census period.
My engagement/knowledge transfer took place over several years. Which year(s) should I choose (for Question 8 of form)?
You should select all years between 2003 and 2007 where something significant happened. If this external engagement/knowledge transfer is still continuing, also select the square beside “ongoing”.
What should I do if I was appointed in, or after, the Census Period (2003-2007)?
The University is interested in any engagements/knowledge transfers that a current staff member was involved in, provided that the engagement/knowledge transfer took place within the census period. You should report on all external engagements/knowledge transfers in which you were involved that took place within the census period (2003-2007), even if you were not working for Macquarie University at the time.
Is the audit carried out on a group or individual basis?
This is an individual exercise, so individuals should complete the online audit form about all external research-based engagements/knowledge transfers they have been involved in between 2003 and 2007 (unless another staff member is telling us about them).
What if the engagement/knowledge transfer involved other Macquarie staff? Do we each need to fill in a separate form about it?
If the engagement/knowledge transfer was a group effort, then ONE group member should be chosen to present the information via the online form, listing other members as collaborators. You will need to decide amongst your group who will be responsible for submitting the form.
Only one form is required for each engagement/knowledge transfer to avoid duplication of submissions and minimise the workload on staff.
What if there are/were more than five (5) other Macquarie staff involved?
If more than five other Macquarie University staff are/were involved in this engagement/knowledge transfer, then list five of them (try to list those with a higher level of involvement first, if possible). You should then select the circle next to “Yes”, located under the table to indicate that more people are involved.
What do you mean by research-based “engagement” and “knowledge transfer”?
Engagement: activities between the University and research end-users which are of mutual benefit (or at least potential benefit) and involve the transfer, sharing or interchange of knowledge derived from research.
Knowledge transfer: the process of engaging, for mutual benefit, with business, government or the community to generate, acquire, apply and make accessible the knowledge, derived from research, that is needed to enhance material, human, social and environmental wellbeing, and the success of commercial enterprises.
So research-based engagement and knowledge transfer can be seen as processes by which the results of a particular piece of research are communicated to an end-user organisation/community and which have the potential to benefit the end-user. The creation of new knowledge, of itself, does not constitute engagement or knowledge transfer. Normal publication and impact in the academic field of study is also excluded. The benefit to the end-user can be under one or several of the headings social, environmental, cultural, economic and commercial.
What does “end-user” mean?
Generally speaking, an end-user is a company, external agency, organisation or community that benefits from the research findings. Frequently, when researchers undertake a piece of research they have a particular end-user in mind, but this is not always the case. Serendipitous research results can lead to unexpected benefits and therefore unanticipated beneficiaries – who then become the research end-users. In some cases it might be perceived that the general public are the end-users who ultimately benefit from a particular piece of research, but in almost all these cases there is a particular organisation that delivers products or services to the public; it would be more appropriate to name this organisation as the end-user.
For the purposes of the Audit, a suitable definition of an end-user of a particular piece of research is “the external non-academic entity which benefits from the uptake of the outputs of that research”.
What sorts of engagements/knowledge transfers should be reported?
You should tell us about any activity you have participated in, regarding your research, which has involved communicating your research findings in a targeted way to one or more people in the non-academic community who may benefit socially, economically, environmentally, and/or culturally from your findings (end-users). This act of engaging with end-users and/or transferring knowledge may or may not have led to a change being made at this stage. If a change has been made, this may currently have led to no, some, or extensive identifiable benefits for the end-user.
Why are you asking us to assess the response and extent of benefits to the end-user?
The University needs to know how far any developments, based on the research results transferred to the end-user, have progressed so that it can gauge the impact that Macquarie’s research has had on the economic, environmental, social or cultural wellbeing of the nation/globe.
I have been involved in several engagements/knowledge transfers. What should I do?
Make sure you tell us about the most important first; then tell us about as many as you are able to. You will need to complete a separate form for each engagement/knowledge transfer.
Do I need to report on engagements/knowledge transfers that involve non-disclosure agreements (e.g. that relate to patents)?
If your work is subject to a non-disclosure agreement you should indicate this at question 11 of the online form. At question 12 you should include details of the interaction as far as the non-disclosure agreement allows.
How do I report each engagement/knowledge transfer?
Each “engagement/knowledge transfer” by an individual or group must be reported on a separate form, i.e. if an individual has three reportable “engagements/knowledge transfers” in the period 2003-2007, then he/she should complete three online forms.
Where can I find the audit form?
A link to the external engagement/knowledge transfer audit form can be found in the email sent to individual participants by ASR.
How do I fill in the form?
Detailed instructions about how to answer each question in the external engagement/knowledge transfer audit form can be found at the top of this webpage.
Can I partially complete a form and then come back to it later?
Yes. Although this was not possible in the Pilot Audit, the University has commissioned Australian Survey Research Group (ASR - who undertook the "Your Say" survey) to modify the application process so that this is now possible. Just follow the instructions on the form.
Is it possible to have a copy of the answers that I submit?
Yes. The ASR form allows you to print a copy. Just follow the instructions on the form.
Why do I need to provide end-user details?
This is so that we can see who Macquarie researchers are working with and so that we can follow up on particularly interesting cases of engagement/knowledge transfer. This follow up might include gaining perceptions from the end-user point of view about how effective and beneficial the process of engagement/knowledge transfer has been.
Will you contact end-users without my knowledge?
No. We will only contact the nominated person/people with your knowledge.
How will the Audit results be used?
The results will be used to establish a profile of the University’s engagement. Individual records will not be entered into the IRIS database, and will not be used as a metric in individual performance assessment. Of course, one of the purposes of the Audit is to identify individuals/groups that can then feature in the University’s promotional material; so some of the information may be passed on to External Relations to allow them to follow up with certain individuals and possibly publish articles about some of the University’s research. A report containing consolidated information gathered in the Audit will be made available to all participants within the University.