Metrics for grant applications and promotions

When applying for research grants and promotion, you will be expected to demonstrate your research impact. There are a number of research impact metrics which can be used to support this element of your application.  

What metrics to use? 

The metrics that a researcher uses to demonstrate impact will depend on a number of factors, including the nature and subject area of their research, how far along they are in their research career, and the requirements of the grant or position for which they are applying. 

Some examples of commonly used metrics are: 

It is important to read the guidelines or criteria for the application that you are completing, as they may specify which types of metric should be used to demonstrate impact.  

Creating your research impact statements

On each of the pages linked above, you will find some example statements of how different types of metrics could be used to illustrate your research impact.  

These are fictional examples and should not be used as templates; again, it is important to read the guidelines for your grant application and to understand what they want to see in your statement of research impact. Some schemes require specific types of metrics to be included (and/or may specify what is not considered relevant), and there may be a word count to adhere to.  

Support with metrics for grant applications or promotions

You will find a lot of guidance on locating your research impact metrics on these webpages. If you require further support, you can: 

For support with understanding grant requirements or criteria, or any other element of your application, please visit the Researcher Portal.  

Training sessions

The Liaison Librarians work with Research Services to offer webinars on locating metrics for grant applications. These will be advertised via Research Services mailing lists, and recordings from previous sessions can be found in the Researcher Portal (UoA login required to access).