Research with impact

Our research benefits communities beyond academia, in Manchester, the UK and internationally.

The impact of our research is in a wide range of key areas:

• Influencing policy making and advising government: for example, our archaeologists have helped shape government policy on heritage conservation (see our Orkney impact case study); the EU’s European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages reflects significant input from our linguists (see our Romani recognised impact case study).
• Enriching cultural life through work with cultural assets in Manchester and throughout the UK (see our Art History and Visual Studies research impact page).
• Contributing to community cohesion: our historians have worked with local councils on mapping immigration in Greater Manchester; our language-based area studies specialists have helped inform the approaches European NGOs and policy makers to addressing inter-faith and inter-ethnic tensions.
• Working to improve responses to international conflicts and disasters: HCRI collaborates extensively with NGOs like Médecins Sans Frontières and International Federation of the Red Cross.
• Supporting the development of civil society: theatre scholars have had a major impact on civil society worldwide by enhancing the work of warzone practitioners.
• Enhancing the UK's cultural and heritage industries (one of our writers is a prominent contributor to the Guardian Masterclasses in creative writing; our museologists have authored curatorial plans underpinning the preservation and celebration of historical buildings; a SALC ancient historian helped develop the facial reconstruction technology now central to museum exhibitions around the world).

More information about the impact of our research can be found on individual subject area web pages.

We strongly believe that the public engagement we are involved in through our research goes hand-in-hand with the social responsibility agenda that informs our teaching and community outreach activities.