Claire Donovan

Professor Claire Donovan BA (Hons), MA, DPhil, FRSA

Deputy Head of School (Research & Enterprise)

Professor Donovan Joined the Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences, and the School of Education in 2020.

Prior to joining Greenwich, Claire was a Reader at Brunel University London (2010-20). Previously, Claire held research and teaching positions in the Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University (2003-2010); Nuffield College, Oxford University (2001-03); and The Open University (1999-2001).

Claire's first degree was in Philosophy (University of Southampton) and her MA and DPhil were in Social and Political Thought (University of Sussex). Her teaching interests include Higher Education policy and management; science, society and global challenges; gender and feminisms; social and political theory; philosophy of (social) science; qualitative research; case study methodology.

Professor Donovan has pioneered cross-disciplinary research on research evaluation and policy, including assessing the wider impacts of research on society, and the governance of the humanities, arts, and social sciences within science systems.

In 2006, Australia's Chief Scientist appointed her Chair of the Australian Government's Technical Working Group on Research Impact, tasked with recommending the optimum methodology for assessing the wider economic, social, environmental and cultural impact of university research. She championed the use of case studies and narratives alongside robust impact indicators. The work of this group influenced the design of the 'impact' component of the UK's 2014 Research Excellence Framework.

Claire has given policy advice to government research funding agencies in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the USA.

Claire has been an invited Visiting Fellow at several universities including:
Oxford University Department of Education
Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), Cambridge University
Wolfson College, Cambridge University
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Department of Government, London School of Economics
Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University
Science, Technology and Society Cluster, National University of Singapore
Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex

She was an Elected Associate Member of Nuffield College, Oxford University (2003-05), was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts in 2013, and has been a Board Member of the Campaign for Social Science since 2015.

Posts held previously:
  • 2019-2020. Reader in Science Policy & Research Governance, Brunel Business School, Brunel University London.
  • 2000-2018. Reader in Assessing Research Impact, Health Economics Research Group (HERG) / Department of Clinical Sciences, Brunel University London.
  • 2009-2010. Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University.
  • 2003-2008. Research Fellow, Research Evaluation & Policy Project (REPP), Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University.
  • 2001-2003. Leverhulme Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Sociology Group, Nuffield College, Oxford University.
  • 2000-2001. Research Fellow, Centre for Science Education, The Open University.
  • 1999-2000. Research Assistant, Institute for Educational Technology, The Open University.

Education studies

Social work and social policy

Responsibilities within the university

Deputy Head (Research & Enterprise) School of Education.

Recognition
  • Peer reviewer for:
    • American Journal of Evaluation
    • Australian Journal of Public Administration
    • BMJ Open
    • Evaluation and Program Planning
    • Evidence & Policy
    • Health Research Policy and Systems
    • Humanities
    • International Journal of Cultural Policy
    • International Journal of Wildland Fire
    • Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
    • Medical Journal of Australia
    • Minerva
    • Palgrave Communications
    • Political Studies
    • Political Studies Review
    • Public Administration
    • Research Policy
    • Research Evaluation
    • Science and Public Policy
    • Social Epistemology
    • Sociological Research Online
  • 2019. Guest Editor (with Fiona Jenkins and Helen Keane), special issue of Women's Studies International Forum 72 (Jan-Feb) on 'Gendered Innovations in the Social Sciences'.
  • 2018. Guest Editor (with Magnus Gulbrandsen), special issue of Research Evaluation 27(4) on 'Measuring the Public Value of Social Sciences and Humanities Research in Europe'.
  • 2018 onwards. Reviewer Panel Member, The Newton Prize, UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
  • 2016 onwards. Member of European Science Foundation College of Expert Reviewers.
  • 2016-18. Australian Research Council International Collaboration Award.
  • 2016-2018. External Examiner, The Open University, DD306 Living Political Ideas, TD223 International Development, DD211 Understanding Politics, and DD313 International Relations: Continuity and change in global politics.
  • 2015 onwards. Board Member, Campaign for Social Science.
  • 2013 onwards. Elected Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts.

Research / Scholarly interests
  • Higher Education policy and governance (UK and comparative)
  • Research evaluation (assessing research quality and impact)
  • Gender and Higher Education careers
  • The role of the university in society
  • Graduate skills and employability
  • Evaluation and metrics as technologies of governance
  • Governance of the social sciences and humanities
  • Forensic bibliometrics

Key funded projects

2015-20 Australian Research Council Discovery Grant. AUD $397,514 (International PI) Gendered Excellence in the Social Sciences with Fiona Jenkins (PI, ANU), Helen Keane (ANU), Marian Sawyer (ANU).

2014-17 European Commission FP7 Programme. €2,271,709 (Co-I) IMPACT-EV: Evaluating the impact and outcomes of European social sciences and humanities research with Ramon Flecha (PI, CREA, University of Barcelona), Dragona Amarov (PSPC), Poul Holm (Trinity College Dublin), Benedetto Lepori (U della Svizzera Italiana), Andrea Scharnhorst (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), Andras Schubert (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) and Emanuela Reale (CNR-IRCRES).

2012 National Breast Cancer Foundation. £49,925 (PI) Evaluating the Returns from Research Funded by Australia's National Breast Cancer Foundation with Stephen Hanney (Brunel University London).

2011-12 Arts and Humanities Research Council / Economic and Social Research Council / Department of Culture, Media and Sport. £49,914 (PI) Measuring Cultural Value (Phase 2).

2007 Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. AUD $100,000 (Co-I) Consultancy services for evaluating research quality and impact with Linda Butler (PI, ANU).

2006-09 Australian Research Council Linkage Grant. AUD $1,130,077 (Co-I) Improving Decision Making in Government Service Delivery Using Third Party Providers' with John Wanna (PI, ANU), Brian Head (University of Queensland).

2006 Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. AUD $6,800 (PI) Consultancy services for measuring the extra-academic impact and public value of publicly funded research.

2005 Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training AUD $45,490 (PI) Consultancy services for measuring the quality and impact of publicly funded research in the humanities, arts and social sciences.

Recent publications

Article

Aiello, Emilia , Donovan, Claire, Duque, Elena, Fabrizio, Serena , Flecha, Ramon , Holm, Poul , Molina, Silvia , Oliver, Esther , Reale, Emanuela (2020), Effective strategies that enhance the social impact of social sciences and humanities research. Policy Press. In: , , , . Policy Press, Evidence & Policy, 17 (1) . pp. 131-146 ISSN: 1744-2648 (Print), 1744-2656 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1332/174426420X15834126054137).

Donovan, Claire and , Gulbrandsen, Magnus (2018), Introduction: measuring the impact of arts and humanities research in Europe. Oxford University Press. In: , , , . Oxford University Press, Research Evaluation, 27 (4) . pp. 285-286 ISSN: 0958-2029 (Print), 1471-5449 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvy019).

Jenkins, Fiona , Keane, Helen, Donovan, Claire (2018), Introduction: gendered innovations in the social sciences. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Women's Studies International Forum, 72 . pp. 103 ISSN: 0277-5395 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2018.05.008).

Jenkins, Fiona , Keane, Helen, Donovan, Claire (2018), Work (still) in progress: establishing the value of gendered innovations in the social sciences. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Women's Studies International Forum, 72 . pp. 104-108 ISSN: 0277-5395 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2018.04.006).

Bowden, Jacqueine A. , Sargent, Nicole, Wesselingh, Steve, Size, Lincoln , Donovan, Claire , Miller, Caroline L. (2018), Measuring research impact: a large cancer research funding programme in Australia. BMC. In: , , , . BMC, Health Research Policy and Systems, 16: 39 1478-4505 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-018-0311-3).

Reale, Emanuela , Avramov, Dragona, Canhial, Kubra, Donovan, Claire , Flecha, Ramon , Holm, Poul , Larkin, Charles , Lepori, Benedetto , Monsoni-Fried, Judith , Oliver, Esther (2017), A review of literature on evaluating the scientific, social and political impact of social sciences and humanities research. Oxford University Press. In: , , , . Oxford University Press, Research Evaluation, 27 (4) . pp. 298-308 ISSN: 0958-2029 (Print), 1471-5449 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvx025).

Donovan, Claire and , (2017), For ethical 'impactology'. Taylor and Francis. In: , , , . Taylor and Francis, Journal of Responsible Innovation, 6 (1) . pp. 78-83 ISSN: 2329-9460 (Print), 2329-9037 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2017.1300756).

Samuel, Gabrielle , Donovan, Claire, Lee, Jeung (2016), University–industry teaching collaborations: a case study of the MSc in structural integrity co-produced by Brunel University London and The Welding Institute. Taylor & Francis. In: , , , . Taylor & Francis, Studies in Higher Education, 43 (4) . pp. 769-785 ISSN: 0307-5079 (Print), 1470-174X (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2016.1199542).

Book section

Donovan, Claire and , (2019), Assessing the broader impacts of publicly-funded research. Edward Elgar Publishing. In: , , In: Dagmar Simon, Stefan Kuhlmann, Julia Stamm, Weert Canzler (eds.), Handbook on Science and Public Policy. Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton, MA; Cheltenham, UK . pp. 448-502 . ISBN: 9781784715939 (doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781784715946.00036).

Donovan, Claire and , (2016), From multiversity to postmodern university. Routledge. In: , , In: James E. Cote, Andy Furlong (eds.), Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education. Routledge, London, UK (1st) . pp. 85-93 . ISBN: 9781315772233 (doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315772233-8).

Conference item

Donovan, Claire and , (2019), Assessing the broader impacts of publicly-funded research. In: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Impact in the Nordic context: Understanding the contemporary state-of-the-art in international comparative perspective, 20-21 Aug 2019, Reykjavík, Iceland , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2019), Do we need a feminist bibliometrics. In: Excellence and Equality: Critical perspectives on gender and knowledge in the humanities and social sciences, 26-28 Jun 2019, Canberra, Australia , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2018), Societal and economic impact as funding criteria. In: Global Research Council European Regional Meeting, Expectations of Societal and Economic Impact, 13-14 Nov 2018, Vienna, Austria , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2018), Mapping the broader impact of social sciences and humanities. In: The Impact of Social Sciences & Humanities 2018, 04-05 Oct 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2018), Demonstrating impact. In: Impact of Science 2018, 14 Jun 2018, Ottawa, Canada , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2018), Indicators for SSH impact. In: Impact of Science Finding Shared Approaches to Assess, Enable, and Accelerate Impacts of Science on Society, Network for Advancing & Evaluating the Societal Impact of Science (AESIS), 14 Jun 2018, Ottawa, Canada , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2018), Science policy and higher education policy in the UK. In: Chinese Academy of Science High Level Delegation, 28 May 2018, Croydon, UK , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire , Samuel, Gabrielle, Lee, Jeung (2017), Stakeholder perspectives on the pubic value of university-industry teaching collaborations: a case study of the MSc in structural integrity co-produced by Brunel University London and the Welding Institute. In: SRHE Annual Research Conference 2017, 06-08 Dec 2017, Newport, UK , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2017), Moral panic and the impact agenda. In: SRHE Annual Research Conference 2017, 06-08 Dec 2017, Newport, UK , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2017), Impact for beginners. In: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Conference on The Impact of PhD Research, 02 Mar 2017, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , Hansen, Martin (2016), Assessing the impact of research and innovation: an analysis of evidence, metrics and narratives used in REF 2014 business and management impact submissions. In: SPRU 50th Anniversary Conference, 07-09 Sep 2016, Sussex, UK , . , (doi: ).

Donovan, Claire and , (2016), Defining and measuring broader impacts. In: Evaluating Broader Impacts: The state of the art, National Science Foundation Workshop, 11 Feb 2016, Washington DC, USA , . , (doi: ).

Conference proceedings

Donovan, Claire and , (2019), Do we need a feminist bibliometrics?. Centre for Global Higher Education. In: Centre for Global Higher Education Seminar, 14 March 2019, Department of Education, University of Oxford , CGHE Seminar 110. Centre for Global Higher Education, (doi: https://www.researchcghe.org/events/cghe-seminar/do-we-need-a-feminist-bibliometrics/) NB Item availability restricted.

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