The Conversation subsidiary Universal Impact launches newsletter for researchers – and helps evidence reach new audiences

There are so many opportunities out there for researchers – sometimes the challenge is simply knowing how to find them.

One of the most powerful things The Conversation offers academics is the chance to write articles that reach the people who will benefit most from their work – potentially changing the world for the better.

But The Conversation network can now help researchers engage with targetted audiences in other ways, too – through its wholly-owned subsidiary Universal Impact.

Founded and managed by former The Conversation Deputy Editor, Matt Warren, Universal Impact offers specialist training, mentoring and research communication services to researchers and research institutions around the world – donating its profits back to its parent charity. We also produce a weekly newsletter.

In Universal Impact’s Research Reach Roundup newsletter, I curate a handpicked a selection of the best opportunities from across the world of research, communications and policymaking.

This includes hot tips on grants, prizes, job adverts, calls for evidence, parliamentary committees, media opportunities and events – basically anything that might enable researchers to get their work talked about or in front of more key people.

Over the past year, we’ve featured almost 400 different opportunities, including many from across the rapidly growing world of artificial intelligence.

Our newsletter also provides behind the scenes updates from other parts of The Conversation “family”. And there’s been plenty to report.

In just the last few months, The Conversation has launched a new prize, developed its podcast offerings and put on some great events, including a special screening and discussion about what the new Paddington film can teach us about migration.

The extraordinary power of research

At Universal Impact, meanwhile, we’ve worked with a diverse range of research organisations, including ODI Global, The Quadram Institute, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in China.

We’ve supported the 2024 Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition – a masterclass in research communications, which challenges academics to race against time to explain their work – and mingled with researchers at conferences in Brighton, York and Warsaw.

We were hosted in the Polish capital by the ISRF, which we’ve proudly partnered with to support their mission to find new solutions for today’s most pressing issues.

We’ve also provided communications and policy uptake support for the UCL-led, £4-million ESRC project, the International Public Policy Engagement Observatory (IPPO), which assesses and reports global evidence on Covid recovery, inequality and net zero for the benefit of UK policymakers.

At Universal Impact, we believe in the extraordinary power of research to shape society, the economy and policy for the better. And in 2025, we’ll be looking forward to using our communications expertise to support more experts than ever before.

If you’re a researcher or research institution and you’re interested in working together, do get in touch – or subscribe to our newsletter to find out more.