From papers to real-world change: A conversation with Dr Helena Villela about tangible research impact

What, in fact, is "research impact" really? At a recent science communication conference in Sharjah, UAE, I had the pleasure of watching a presentation by Dr Helena Villela, a marine biologist with nearly two decades of applied conservation research experience, from coral reef restoration to biofuel innovation, who now serves as an Impact Partner at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). She is helping turn scientific research into real-world solutions. Her talk delivered the clearest and most engaging definition of "research impact" I have ever stumbled upon. The word "impact" is often thrown around in academia, usually confused with "impact factor", but Helena's take on it is refreshingly different. I sat down to discuss her journey, the true definition of research impact, and how scientists can ensure their work reaches beyond the walls of academia.

You wore a lot of hats before landing at KAUST's Impact Office – biology degree, coral reef PhD, underwater filmmaker, Discovery Channel documentary… Can you walk us through that journey? How does it all fit together and how did you end up where you ended up?

It’s been a long journey! I worked as an academic researcher for almost 20 years, completing my undergrad, master's, PhD, and postdocs. I moved to Saudi Arabia five years ago as a research scientist. I still wear many hats, but I was very lucky to have a supportive supervisor and mentor, Professor Raquel Peixoto, who opened doors for me. When I started feeling a calling to do more science communication, she put me in contact with all the people filming the documentaries our lab was involved in, and let me lead outreach events in schools and local communities. That is how it started.

Image credit: Morgan Bennett-Smith

Just like me, at some point you realised that you wanted to talk to people outside the lab. When did that happen for you?

About three years ago, I started to realise that I liked the science communication part of my work more than doing the research itself. The turning point was a really tough year personally and professionally. By the end of the summer here in Saudi Arabia, we had a massive coral bleaching and mortality event that vanished our work, as well as many local reefs. It was devastating.

On top of that, I was going to science conferences year after year, and it felt like we were in an echo chamber. We were all just telling each other how climate change is killing ecosystems, but the message wasn't reaching the people who needed to hear it. It started to give me anxiety. At the same time, I noticed how impactful it was to go into local communities and schools to share messages they had never heard before. I realised how much more important that work was for building a society that cares about the environment. That’s when it clicked, and I started looking for ways to step outside academia and communicate science more strategically.

At some point you landed an "Impact Partner" position at KAUST. I remember you telling me that KAUST is one of the best places in the world to do research. Why is that?

KAUST is an amazing place. The philosophy here is that the institution provides everything so you can focus entirely on your research. They offer incredible infrastructure, funding, and conditions that allow you to fly really high.

To give you an example: we have eight Core Labs, and one of them is the Prototyping Core Lab. Say you have a crazy idea for a project – like listening to the sounds of the deep ocean to monitor changes over time. You have the scientific knowledge to analyse the data, but you have no idea how to physically build a microphone that can survive those depths. At KAUST, you can call a meeting with the engineers, tell them what you need, and they will design and build the tool for you. There are virtually no limitations. You can imagine anything, and somebody will help make it possible.

What is an Impact Partner? What does it involve?

It’s okay if people don’t know what it is – I didn’t completely know myself when I applied! We are actually the first research impact office at a university in our region.

As an Impact Partner, I am responsible for three main things:

1. Detecting and measuring the impact of the research we have done and are currently doing.

2. Identifying gaps and figuring out what infrastructure or steps are missing to help our researchers achieve impact faster.

3. Communicating our impact stories. One of our big tasks is publishing the KAUST Annual Impact Report, which highlights examples of how our university's research is making a difference in the world.

Let's get into the big question: what is research impact? Because a lot of researchers still confuse it with impact factor. Can you break down a definition in plain language?

I use a formal definition from the field: Research impact is an effect on, change, or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment, or quality of life beyond academia. That last part – "beyond academia" – is the most important thing. You need to go the full circle. A publication is amazing, but it is just a step. It needs to break the walls of academia and go to the real world. That's when it becomes impact.

You described the impact pathway: Inputs → Activities → Outputs → Outcomes → Impact. Can you walk us through that with an example? Where do most researchers get stuck?

There is a clear pathway to impact, often called a logic model, where each step depends on the success of the previous one:

1. Inputs: The funding, infrastructure, and expertise you have.

2. Activities: Your fieldwork, lab experiments, classes, and events.

3. Outputs: The results of those activities – this includes your papers, book chapters, and patents. These are still inside the walls of academia.

4. Outcomes: This is when your outputs start interacting with the real world. For example, if a government agency uses your paper to create a policy brief, or if a patent leads to a startup or a vaccine.

5. Impact: When those outcomes are actually used to benefit society. The policy brief actively protects the environment; the vaccine saves lives etc.

A great example comes from Dr. Tatiana Saio in Brazil. She started her project 20 years ago with inputs and activities(lab experiments). Over a decade, she generated outputs (papers and patents). Eventually, this led to an outcome: the successful development of a drug called poly-laminin for spinal cord injuries. Now, a full 20 years later, the impact is happening: the drug is literally helping paralyzed people walk again.

Where people get stuck or confused is that impact is often out of your direct control. You can control your outputs and measure your outcomes, but once your work is out in the real world, you can't always track its ultimate, long-term impact on society.

You made a point that a Nature paper is an output, not an impact. That might shock some researchers. Can you explain why?

We have to be really careful when we talk about this. Publishing a Nature paper is incredible. It’s an amazing achievement. But then what? This is the question. How did society or the planet benefit from it?

A paper is an output because it's still inside academia. If you have a Nature paper, you have a really good potential to make an incredible impact. The high impact factor means you have something valuable in your hands, but you still have to keep going to turn that output into real-world change – true impact.

You said communication has to be strategic, not reactive. What does that actually mean in practice for a researcher?

There are two main approaches to communicating impact. The first is when you have already achieved impact. That is relatively straightforward: you focus the narrative on the real-world outcomes and benefits, rather than getting bogged down in your activities and academic outputs.

The second approach is when you are still on the pathway – you have outputs or outcomes, and you want to achieve impact. This is where you must be highly strategic. You have to ask yourself: What exactly am I trying to change? Am I trying to change a law? Create a protected park? Shift public perception? Based on that goal, you strategise who your exact audience is and which specific channels will reach them. Strategic communication helps you achieve impact faster, or makes it possible where it otherwise wouldn't happen.

If a researcher is thinking "I want to create real-world impact, but I don't know where to start" – what's the one thing you'd tell them to do first?

First, educate yourself on what impact actually is. Train your brain to see the difference between an output (like a paper) and an outcome. Just understanding that a paper is not the final destination is a huge first step.

Second, constantly ask yourself: Who is going to benefit from my research? What does my community or the planet need from me? Keep the big picture in mind – we are at the service of the public.

Third, strategic partnerships are key. Collaborate with people outside of academia, including impact practitioners and experts, to help bring your research to the real world.

Finally, if you are interested in learning a little more about the topic and get introduced to some important concepts from the impact world, I highly recommend two books to start with: The New Power University by Jonathan Grant, which looks at the social purpose of higher education, and really reinforces this idea that Universities should be at the service of the communities. And Creating Meaningful Impact: The Essential Guide to Developing an Impact-Literate Mindset by Julie Bayley, which brilliantly breaks down the meaning of Impact as a concept in general but also going deeper in Research Impact itself.

🎥 Want to hear it straight from Helena? You can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.

Authors

Dr. Tullio Rossi — Conducted the interview with Dr Helena Villela.

Dr. Fanie Van Rooyen — Helped edit the interview.