Impact for postgraduates: in search of the holy grail?

As has already been highlighted in the introduction to this themed issue on ‘impact’ (see Rogers et al., this issue), the recent ‘impact agenda’ has been engaged with in a variety of critical ways through the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF). As a doctoral student, the word ‘impact’ is a constant demand on everyday academic life, owing to the pressure to consider it in terms of funding, publishing and future career. In the following I offer a consideration of the ways early-career geographers understand and engage with the institutional demands upon their research, in order for them to compete with their more experienced counterparts in an environment that is expecting ever more.