SIAMPI
SIAMPI is an international, interdisciplinary consortium of knowledge institutions supported by the European Commission that aims to develop methods to assess the social impact of research and research funding instruments.
Social impact is the measurable effects of the work of a research group or programme on people’s lives. This ranges from changes in patient care, to implementation of new laws as a result of scientific research, to changing the approach of social integration.
SIAMPI is part of the European Commission’s seventh research framework programme (FP7) Science in Society (SiS). SiS aims to link science to policy by funding projects that investigate science and technology and their relation with society and culture.
Aims
SIAMPI aims to:
- get a better understanding of the way in which productive interactions play a role in the social impact research can have
- develop a method that can be used to assess the social impact of scientific research
Method
The SIAMPI excercise will identify the productive interactions between science and society: exchanges between researchers and societal actors which result in production of knowledge that is scientifically and socially robust and relevant.
These productive interactions will be tested in a series of case studies in the following research fields:
- Nanoscience and nanotechnology
- ICT
- Health
- Social Sciences and Humanities
Deliverables
Expected results from SIAMPI are:
- Improved insight in productive interactions between researchers and society
- Approaches and tools for the assessment of social impact that is applicable in a range of fields and contexts
- Dissemination of scientific results and insights from the project among a wide range of bodies involved in evaluation of research.