May 2024
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This conference focuseed on the future of knowledge exchange in the UK.
Delegates examined the direction, development and use of knowledge exchange metrics, looking at priorities for policy and funding to support the UK’s continued evolution as a centre for knowledge exchange.
The conference followed the release of KEF3 in September 2023, which emphasised the role of commercial collaborations in generating economic returns for university research departments.
Those attending considered steps being taken by educational institutions and funding bodies to improve the quality and quantity of knowledge exchange within and between HEIs.
They discussed:
- KEF3’s current use of metrics for informing its seven perspectives, and its five quintile mode of assessment
- enhancing processes for knowledge exchange within the context of Research England’s 2022-2025 Strategic Delivery Plan, including:
- Research England’s review of knowledge exchange funding, and consultations launched in 2022-2023 regarding best methods for enhancing modes of exchange
- collaboration between Research England and HESA to expand the national database for spin-out companies
Further sessions assessed approaches for developing innovative knowledge exchange strategies within universities and improving university-business collaboration.
It followed government responses to both the Independent Review of University Spin-out Companies, published by DSIT and HM Treasury in November 2023, and the Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape: Independent Review, led by Sir Paul Nurse.
The Government concurred with recommendations from both reviews on a need to improve mobility between areas of innovation in UK universities, and to maintain Britain’s competitiveness as a centre for international talent and knowledge exchange practices by increasing collaborations with commercial partners.
We are pleased to have been able to include keynote sessions with: Ellen Bamford, Head of Knowledge Exchange Data and Evidence, Research England; Tomas Ulrichsen, Director, Policy Evidence Unit for University Commercialisation and Innovation, University of Cambridge; Dan Cook, Deputy Director, Higher Education Statistics Agency; Professor Arlene Holmes-Henderson, Professor of Classics Education and Public Policy, Durham University; and Graeme Dey MSP, Minister for Higher and Further Education, The Scottish Government (pre-recorded contribution).
Overall, areas for discussion included:
- creating impactful knowledge exchange strategies - encouraging innovation and collaboration between HEIs and external partners
- how best to utilise the full breadth of HEI knowledge exchange approaches - improving the targeting of funding and the UK’s framework for knowledge exchange metrics
- assessing results of KEF3 - what can be learned from developing trends - priorities and options for provider inclusion in later iterations
- exploring how the public benefit of knowledge exchange in R&I can be maximised, including for levelling up ambitions
The conference was an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside key policy officials who attended from DAERA, NI; DBT; Department for the Economy, NI; DLUHC; DSIT; GO-Science; IPO; UKAEA; UKHSA; The Scottish Government; and the Welsh Government.
