ABSTRACT
The hypothesis here is that early and continuous engagement increase the probability of impact. Academics can fashion and shape the work so that all the interests of the various parties are met without compromising the important academic values of independence. The fact that someone writes about your work in the Financial Times make people interested. Networks must be global and building networks in North America is particularly important to this. “It is because potential users of research are so influenced by branding, by the reputation of individual academics or of the centres where they work, that they are so fickle”. Some of them may know that intuitively but my feeling is that they don’t go out and deliberately build networks.
