Dr. Aaron Jensen
Dr. Aaron Jensen is a social scientist with over a decade of experience in social research, impact evaluation, public engagement, policy engagement and responsible innovation. He holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of Strathclyde Business School. His expertise includes designing evidence-based evaluation and engagement approaches for complex, multi-country projects, with particular strength in mixed methods, survey methodology and GDPR-compliant data governance. Dr. Jensen is Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of the Institute for Methods Innovation, the nonprofit organization that runs Fast Track Impact.
Dr. Jensen designs and delivers workshops and online training on evaluation design, mixed methods research, survey development, digital data management, use of technology (including AI) in engagement and evaluation and research commercialization. He has co-developed practitioner-focused training modules delivered through face-to-face workshops and online learning platforms to build practical skills in evaluation and research methods. He supports research teams, educators, NGOs and government agencies to strengthen internal evaluation capacity, improve data quality and generate usable evidence for engagement and impact reporting.
Funded projects
Dr. Jensen has played leading roles in the delivery of more than 30 research and innovation projects across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. His work spans evaluation design, stakeholder research and engagement, longitudinal and multilingual data collection, quantitative and qualitative analysis, responsible data management, AI tools and the translation of findings into practical recommendations for programs and services.
His project portfolio includes eight projects under the EU-funded Horizon program, with a focus on methodology development and data governance. He has co-authored winning proposals and led grant-funded work supported by Science Foundation Ireland / Research Ireland, Arts Council England, the European Space Agency and the European Commission (Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe and Erasmus+). Example projects include the nationally representative Science in Ireland Barometer survey (1,200+ respondents) and the European Space Agency’s Cosmic Vision public consultation (14,000+ respondents across 22 countries in 11 languages).
Publications
Dr. Jensen has co-authored peer-reviewed publications in outlets including PLOS ONE, Frontiers in Psychology and Open Research Europe, alongside reports for national and international institutions. His writing and analysis address impact evaluation, public engagement, science communication and the responsible use of digital methods in research and evaluation.
Academic and professional background
- PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of Strathclyde Business School.
- Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, supporting evaluation and engagement work in the CONNECT Centre and the School of Education, including EU-funded projects (QUEST and SpaceEU).
