Since January 2021, GISMO has also formed the basis for the Research Explorer, accessible via http://research.ugent.be. This portal allows internal and external stakeholders to find information about various aspects of research at Ghent University: which researchers and research groups are affiliated with Ghent University and what their expertise is, what research infrastructure is offered, which projects (past and present) are being carried out, and which publications are available via the repository.

In December 2025, the Research Explorer will undergo an expansion: a new, separate “Outputs and impact” start button will give you access to overviews of publications, datasets, patents and impact narratives.

This research tip provides more background information about the impact narratives.

In summary

This section allows you to navigate through various topics for which diverse content has been brought together – often the result of science communication activities – illustrating the significance and (potential) impact of research within this topic. This functionality was implemented as part of the institutional impact policy and aims not only to inspire the research community itself, but also to recognise its efforts in the field of valorisation. An overview such as this also ensures that people outside Ghent University gain a better insight into and understanding of how Ghent University research actively seeks (and finds) connections with society.

The “Methodology” section explains in detail how this module was built. Completeness was not the aim – in that sense, a “reverse” approach was taken (starting from the available and easily accessible content).

From the researcher's point of view

The initial inventory was compiled during the summer and autumn of 2025. The most recent content is therefore up until this period. However, the intention is to provide updates and check for broken links. 

An important point to note here is that the approach/structure was certainly also guided by pragmatism, i.e. to make additional use of numerous existing and well-known sources. This information is not shared with FRIS.

In the first phase, the overview of impact narratives is centrally managed by the research administration (via the impact policy advisor). The result is publicly available, but researchers can:

• consult a read-only version in GISMO web via the project sheet of linked projects
• send requests for additions to gismo@ugent.be, where they will be examined for suitability (link with Ghent University research, fitting within the objective, reliable source, embedding within topic list, etc.).

Note: the impact narratives are currently not linked to the entity “person” (not only because the underlying data is not structured appropriately, but also because we want to position impact as a group achievement). However, we are investigating how we can enable a specific link in the future. Anyone who wants to report valorisation activities at the individual level can use the Activities module for this purpose. 

Methodology

Sources

Various (reliable and sustainable) online platforms/sources were identified on which content is shared that provides background information on Ghent University's research themes and methods:

• Durf Denken (Dare to Think)
• UGent TechTransfer (incl. Victoris)
• UZ Gent
• Imec
• VIB
• VLIZ
• FWO Kennismakers
• CORDIS and Horizon Magazine (EU)
• Koning Boudewijn Stichting
• SciVil
• Universiteit van Vlaanderen
• SciMingo (PhD Cup, Science Figured Out)
• Eos (incl. Eos Pipet)
• TEDxGhent
• Mensentaal (science programme of Urgent.fm)
• VRT
• VILT
• Miscellaneous: Mediapunt Vlaanderen, Klasse, Vlaams Instituut Gezond Leven, Scriptiebank, Mensenkennis, …

This concerns openly accessible (no paywall or log-in) content, mainly in the form of articles and blog posts, videos and podcasts.

Based on this initial inventory, various topics were identified (visualised as the title of the page).

Metadata

Next, the content was added to at least one topic as an “online source” or as a textual “description”.

• Online source: label = mention of content form + title of the source.
• Description: mainly used if the information to be linked to is not available as a URL or to provide a general overview of the topic, possibly referring to a research unit within Ghent University that also offers narratives or collected content (e.g. IDC or clinic within UZ Gent).

The topic and sources/description form the start of an “impact narrative”. The following are added:

• keywords
• research discipline codes
• reference to related impact narratives (based on the topic title)

Project link

Almost every impact narrative also contains a second tab for a minimal overview of relevant research projects:

• projects funded by the Societal Value Creation Fund (as part of the reporting options)
• projects referred to by an online source
• primary projects of the researcher referred to by an online source or description
• doctoral projects (of the “doctoral enrolment” type, recognisable by the academic cap icon) are not linked, nor are externally managed projects

This relationship between impact narrative and project is also visible via the project file (Outputs and impact tab). Please note: for certain project types (VLAIO, MVF), there is also a functionality to link “results”.

Bilingualism

In line with the design of the Research Explorer, the impact narratives are presented in two languages:

• certain online sources are presented in two languages
• if an online source is only available in one language, it is presented on both the NL and EN sides and the label indicates in which language the source is available

Contact

Esther De Smet (senior policy advisor societal impact of research)