Research to Impact

Apply for R2I Validate

Open to all UTS research staff, $50,000–$100,000 is available to support the development of a physical, software or UX design prototype or mock-up. 

Work alongside UTS Rapido and gain expert insight on further product development steps to develop a prototype within 6 months. Applications close 20 November 2026.

Learn more and apply now

Apply for R2I Teaching Release

Apply now for dedicated time to advance a defined research translation opportunity. Open to all UTS full-time academic staff, continuing or fixed-term, with a minimum 40% teaching load, successful applicants can receive up to $30,000 for teaching and marking backfill transferred to their school or Faculty for one semester. Applications close 28 November 2026.

Learn more and apply now

At UTS, research excellence has always been our foundation, but excellence alone is not enough. For research to make a difference, it must connect with the people and partners who can apply it, use it, adapt it and scale it. 

Research translation is how we get more of our excellent research used and delivering impact. It’s how ideas become action - in policy, practice, industry, communities and the world around us.

We’re embedding research translation as a visible, supported and sustained part of how we deliver research that makes a difference in the world.

Supported by the Research to impact (R2I) program, UTS researchers have access to a clear translation pathway from the start of their research journey through RES Hub Impact – the way in.

With R2I, we’re paving the way for that knowledge generated at UTS to create tangible outcomes for society by:

• offering teaching relief to provide focused time for academics to work on advancing a defined research translation opportunity with high potential for external engagement and impact
• providing targeted support to strengthen UTS’s research translation pipeline by enabling focused capacity around a defined research translation opportunity
• advancing strategically significant areas of research on the national and international stage with funding offered through the Strategic Research Accelerator program
• providing pathways for novel research to be translated into impact through the UTS Research Translation Competition in which winners participate in workshops covering IP basics, value propositions, business models and pitch preparation, and will then present their translation plan to a venture capital firm with the chance to win a cash prize to realise their developed plan.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Kate McGrath said R2I positions research translation as a visible, supported and sustained part of how UTS delivers research and makes a difference in the world.  

“R2I brings research translation support together for the very first time under one coherent university-wide program.”

“It provides time and funding to focus on translation, support for commercialisation, proposals, engineering and prototyping through Rapido. It offers IP professional development and peer support and pathways to deeper engagement with industry, government and the community,” Kate said, emphasising that spinouts and licences are not the only measure of success.

R2I brings research translation support together for the very first time under one coherent university-wide program.

“In terms of societal benefits, policy impact, changes in professional and clinical practice, community outcomes and social innovation all count just as much, and sometimes more, depending on what it is that's been achieved.”

Helping knowledge travel further

A strong translation culture does not happen by accident. It requires recognition, resourcing, systems and support. These initiatives will help create the conditions for translation to become part of everyday research practice at UTS: valued, visible and built over time.  

Making research matter means helping knowledge travel further, into policy, practice, industry, communities and lives. The ambition of R2I is both a strategic commitment and a practical invitation. 

It provides time and funding to focus on translation, support for commercialisation, proposals, engineering and prototyping through Rapido. It offers IP professional development and peer support and pathways to deeper engagement with industry, government and the community.

R2I asks us to think differently about how research moves into the world, how we support that movement and how we work together to ensure UTS research creates meaningful, tangible outcomes for the communities we serve.  

What's next? 

• Discover how the Research to Impact program helps UTS research reach the people, places and systems where it can make a difference. 
• Explore RES Hub Impact, the front door to research translation at UTS.
• Read about the program launch.