Professor Christopher Smith, Executive Chair for the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), outlines how we are supporting impact and commercialisation in the arts and humanities research community.
Research contributions to society
From responsible AI to addressing health inequalities and homelessness, arts and humanities research is at the heart of solutions to the greatest challenges and opportunities of our time. Ensuring that the research we support delivers on this enormous promise requires a constant challenge to ourselves, to continually ask how it can best benefit wider society.
Arts and humanities research has never existed in isolation. In many cases its value is most fully realised when new knowledge is taken beyond academia to shape policy, enrich cultural life, empower communities, influence industry and improve the lives of citizens.
Commercialisation in arts and humanities
Commercialisation forms part of a broader spectrum of impact pathways. The journey from research to impact is rarely linear, often involving translational support, proof-of-concept activities, collaboration with partners and iterative refinement, as knowledge moves between research, practice and application. Commercialisation may emerge as one route within this process, providing a mechanism for translating research into products, services and solutions that can improve lives and support economic growth. It’s worth being clear that this isn’t only about generating revenue: knowledge exchange and collaborative partnerships with industry can be just as valuable a route to impact as direct commercial return.
To this end, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is launching two complementary initiatives with a shared purpose: helping researchers maximise the value of their work beyond academia.
The Commercialisation Strategy and our new impact guidance each support different aspects of that journey, but they are rooted in the same principle: that excellent research achieves its greatest value when it creates meaningful change in the world.
Arts and humanities research already demonstrates its commercial potential in many ways, from design-led innovation and creative intellectual property to digital heritage, immersive technologies and new business models.
The opportunity now is to make these pathways more visible, more accessible and better supported.
The Commercialisation Strategy is intended to build confidence, widen opportunity and ensure that researchers who choose this route have the partnerships, skills and support needed to translate excellent research into lasting social and economic benefit.
This is where the two initiatives come together.
Impact guidance
The impact guidance is designed to help researchers understand, plan for and communicate impact with greater confidence, something which is vital if we are to strengthen support for publicly-funded research and innovation.
It provides practical guidance on identifying beneficiaries, building partnerships, capturing evidence and telling compelling stories about change. Researchers can draw on it at any stage of a project, from early planning through to reporting, as a working reference for shaping and articulating their impact.
These are the same foundations that underpin successful commercialisation.
Whether the goal is to inform policy, strengthen communities or develop a new product or service, the starting point is the same: understanding real-world needs, working collaboratively and demonstrating the value that research can create.
Commercialisation Strategy
The Commercialisation Strategy builds on those foundations by identifying a specific pathway for researchers who wish to translate their ideas into sustainable technologies, products, processes or services, enhancing customer and user experiences.
In practice, this means engaging your institution’s Technology Transfer Office or knowledge exchange team early, using the strategy to help navigate the options available, from licensing and spin-outs to knowledge exchange partnerships, and to access the specialist support these routes require.
Its purpose is not to redefine what impact means, but to widen the opportunities available to our research community.
Combining impact guidance and strategy for support
By engaging, enabling and evolving commercialisation across the sector, AHRC aims to ensure that entrepreneurial ambition is supported wherever it exists.
Together, these initiatives reflect a broader shift in the research landscape.
UKRI’s mission to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth, alongside the UK government’s industrial strategy, highlights the importance of research that delivers both social and economic value.
Arts and humanities research is uniquely placed to shape technologies responsibly, inform better design, strengthen creative industries and ensure innovation is grounded in human experience.
The message is therefore a simple one.
Commercialisation is not separate from impact; it is a demonstration of it.
Our impact guidance provides the confidence and capability to create change, while the Commercialisation Strategy opens another route through which that change can be realised.
Together, they reinforce AHRC’s commitment to ensuring that arts and humanities research continues to enrich lives, strengthen communities and contribute to a more innovative, inclusive and prosperous UK.