SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN A RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Case Study

THE CHALLENGE

The Institute for Mathematical Innovation (IMI) at Bath University has been established for a number of years, and has recently undergone huge growth in terms of projects and people. As academic research institutes grow in scale and ambition, the demands on leadership, governance, and external engagement increase significantly. Operating at the intersection of research excellence, collaboration, and impact, IMIs effectiveness depends not only on strong internal clarity, but on sustained, credible engagement with external collaborators across academia, industry, and the public sector.

  • Develop and run a Strategy Day

  • Create clarity around roles, expectations, and progression

  • Define the Deputy Director role

  • Build sustainable structures that enable growth

  • Define the succession planning process for new IMI Directors

  • Refine messaging about what IMI is & does

OBJECTIVES

What IMI gained:

  • Outputs designed around Institute autonomy

  • Key insights on current areas of strength and opportunities to focus on during the strategy day and beyond

  • Role clarity across academic & professional tracks, career pathways and succession planning

  • Leadership alignment & engagement through a focused strategy day

  • A foundation for continued growth without repeated structural redesign

Resulting in:

  • Greater clarity and consistency across IMI

  • Improved engagement and trust

  • Decision making without adding bureaucratic burden

  • Reduced dependency on individual leaders for day-to-day decisions

  • Clearer institute-wide narrative for engaging funders and partners

  • Improved confidence in leadership continuity beyond current roles

INSTITUTE-LEVEL OUTCOMES

Insight Gathering

Review existing institute & University materials and gather input from academic and professional staff to understand current realities against the future vision, shaping clear decision areas ahead of the strategy day.

Co-Creation of the strategy day and outputs

A focused, facilitated session to co-create ways of working, team structure, skills, and succession

The design deliberately focused on making

decisions in the room, avoiding lengthy follow-up processes or additional working groups

Finalisation & Handover

Outputs were refined into clear, practical documents the IMI team could immediately implement and embed, requiring minimal additional input from academic leadership and supported by a concise summary for wider stakeholders.

OUR APPROACH

“We moved from discussion to decisions with a usable team charter, clear actions, and tighter positioning. Impactful Authenticity brought structure, pace, and just enough challenge to make it stick.”

Institute for Mathematical Innovation - Bath

Director

Prof. Tristan Pryer

TESTIMONIAL

If you’re leading a growing institute and want to explore whether this approach would translate to your context, we’re happy to share lessons learned

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