Each Research Council has its own guidelines for impact in regard to funding applications (accurate as of September 2020)
The Arts and Humanities Research Council's (AHRC) assessment criteria for impact commitment to funding high quality applications with impact has not changed, despite the fact that the “Pathways to Impact” statement has been eliminated. Applications will continue to be assessed with impact as a key criteria.
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) expects that ‘researchers will have considered the potential scientific, societal and economic impacts of their research.’ Applications ‘should actively consider how these impacts can be maximised and developed within their proposal.’
Natural Environment Research Council - Assessment criteria are scheme specific (including impact).
The Medical Research Council (MRC) instructs reviewers to ‘consider other aspects of the research, including the potential impact and pathways to achieving this’ as one aspect of the proposal.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) wants applicants to consider ‘a broad range of impact measures’ in their research assessment, ‘including qualitative indicators of research impact, such as influence on policy and practice ‘the value and impact of all research outputs (including datasets, software, inventions, patents, preprints, other commercial activities, etc.) in addition to research publications.’
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) identifies impact as ‘a core consideration throughout the grant application process’, with an emphasis on how the impact is ‘intrinsic’ to the proposed research, and can be maximised ‘in a way that is appropriate to the nature and scope of the research being proposed.
For example, in proposals focused on discovery research the proposal may focus principally on the generation of new knowledge, whilst proposals with significant elements of applied research may have impacts related to economic and societal benefits.’
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council - Impact should be indicated throughout the application, and especially in relation to ‘where your previous work has contributed to the UK's economic competitiveness or to improving the quality of life’.