Published on 27 September 2022
University of Sunderland is in the Premier League when it comes to driving regeneration, growth, research, and innovation across the North East and beyond.
Research England has just published its second iteration of new and enhanced Knowledge Exchange Forums (KEF) dashboards.
KEFs are key ways in which universities engage with industry, businesses, society, and the economy at a local, national, and international level.
And, according to the latest data, the University of Sunderland:
· is in the top tier (5) of universities nationally for local growth and regeneration
· is in the top tier (5) of universities nationally for research partnerships
· is in the top tier (5) of universities nationally for Innovate UK income
· is in the second top tier (4) of universities nationally for graduate start ups
Building on the success of the first iteration of the KEF, these latest results demonstrate the range of valuable activities the University of Sunderland is conducting with its external partners to innovate and regenerate, from working with big businesses to small local firms, helping them commercialise and grow.
Professor Jon Timmis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Commercial) at the University, said: “As part of our ‘Society Shaping’ mission here at the University of Sunderland, we take pride in the impact we have on our communities. It is therefore particularly pleasing to see our continued high performance on local growth and regeneration, research partnerships and graduate enterprise in the latest KEF results.”
Knowledge exchange is integral to the mission and purpose of the University, and its importance in contributing to societal and economic prosperity in the North East has been strongly supported by the Government. The latest results also demonstrate the diversity of the University in its efforts to support the Government’s key national and global priorities through these activities.
David Sweeney, Executive Chair of Research England, said: “Knowledge exchange is integral to the mission and purpose of our universities, and its importance in contributing to societal and economic prosperity is strongly supported by the Government.
“Today’s new version of the Knowledge Exchange Framework takes further forward the vision and potential of KE activity, providing richer evidence to demonstrate universities’ strengths in different areas when set alongside their peers.” A full run-down of the latest KEF results can be found here.