The 2015 winners are joining us at the PraxisUnico Conference 2016 alongside Research Councils UK to provide an update on their work and share best practice during a parallel session.
The UK is ranked #2 in the Global Innovation Index, and 3 of the top 10 universities worldwide are based in the UK. As James Wilsdon, professor of science and democracy in the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex and chair of the Independent Review of the Role of Metrics in Research Assessment and Management, said earlier this year, "On any reading of the international data, the UK [research] system is highly efficient and delivers superb results."
Central government funding in the UK, and in particular HEIF (the Higher Education Innovation Fund) has delivered a national level support, that allows public sector research organisations to embed and enable engagement with external partners. As University Alliance note "HEIF funding is given to the universities, but the overall impact is felt across all collaborative partners and beneficiaries[i]", and this was demonstrated clearly in the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, where 30% of submissions were deemed to be "world leading"[ii].
Further examples of excellence were identified in the 2015 Impact Awards for KEC professionals, from PraxisUnico and Research Councils UK, highlighting the vital role played by KEC professionals working alongside their academic colleagues. The finalists all provided outstanding examples of how KEC teams work to support relationships between businesses and the UK’s world-leading publicly funded researchers - on a national and international basis, demonstrating a global reach of impact achieved across all areas of business and society from investment in research. The finalists are joining us at the PraxisUnico Conference 2016 alongside Research Councils UK to provide an update on their work and share best practice during a parallel session.
Read more about the 2015 winners and finalists here.
Visit the Research Council UK’s stand or attend the session to find out more about the Impact Awards winners from 2015, and where they are now. We look forward to seeing you there!