About Researchfish (formerly MRC e-Val)
Researchfish is the system used to collect information on outputs, outcomes and impacts that have arisen from MRC funded research.
MRC e-Val was first launched in November 2009 and data gathering continued until 23 December 2009. Responses were completed and submitted for 83 per cent (2,533 returns) of the grants, fellowships and MRC unit research programmes that the MRC sought feedback on.
The second data gathering period was from October 2010 until November 2010, during which new information was entered and past information was updated. Responses were submitted for 91 per cent (3,339 returns) of the grants, fellowships and MRC unit research programmes that the MRC sought feedback on.
The third MRC e-Val data gathering period was from October 2011 to December 2011. The response rate increased to 98% with responses submitted for around 4000 awards.
Following the success of MRC e-Val other organisations that fund medical research expressed an interest in using the system. In 2011/12 we worked with a group of 10 or so other funders on a 'federated' version of e-Val i.e. one that works across funders so that researchers can enter an output just once and then associate it with the relevant funder or funders.
In 2012 a new system including significant updates to e-Val was launched. The new system (“Researchfish”) not only works across funders but has added functionality to further streamline how information is entered, making it easier for researchers to provide feedback on outputs and outcomes.
The fourth data gathering period now using the Researchfish outcomes system is underway. The deadline for completion of returns is the 30th of November 2012.
Access research fish: www.researchfish.com
Further information about Researchfish (PDF)
The MRC will continue to coordinate use of Researchfish closely with university support offices and/or research unit administrators to ensure that everyone is advised of changes in a timely manner.
On behalf of the MRC, the evaluation team would like to thank all MRC-funded scientists who have supported MRC e-Val over the last three years. This support has given the MRC a better understanding of the progress, productivity and impact of MRC research, and the results have been presented to a wide audience. We would also like to thank all those administrators and support staff who helped with the data collection, and we acknowledge the significant support the evaluation team received from university research support offices and MRC administrators across the UK, which made it possible to run the exercise and deal with communications effectively.