A focus on research impact is influencing the way research is undertaken in Australian higher education institutions. Research activities are planned, funded, conducted, assessed and reported in a way that highlights the real-world impact of research on society. The contemporary prioritisation of research impact, beyond scholarly contribution, reflects a logic model approach to understanding impact that may not adequately reflect the entwined nature of how research achieves impact within and outside academia. This article presents the results of a study conducted with researchers in a regional Australian university to explore the lived experience of research impact. The findings suggest a new definition of research impact as the process whereby research knowledge makes a difference to the knowledge beneficiary. Reconceptualising research impact as a process presents an alternative perspective for explaining how research achieves real-world impact, and helps to address the limitations of logic model approaches. A process-orientation to understanding how research achieves impact acknowledges the indirect, intangible, unexpected and endless influences of research that may be difficult to anticipate and demonstrate.