Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
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Leeds Beckett University celebrates strong improvements in the third Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF)
Research England published its updated KEF3 today, which examines how well English Higher Education Providers exchange knowledge and expertise to make a positive impact on the economy, place, and civic life.
Leeds Beckett University scored in the highest category (Very High Engagement) nationally for Working with the Public and Third Sector and in the second highest category (High Engagement) for Working with Business and for Research Partnerships. LBU also improved its category standing in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Graduate Start-Ups; IP and Commercialisation; Local Growth and Regeneration; and Public and Community Engagement.
This year, Research England moved LBU from the KEF benchmarking cluster J to cluster E – this cluster is described as ‘Large universities with broad discipline portfolio… generating excellent research across all disciplines’. This was as a result of our increasing research strength shown through our outstanding performance in the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021).
To have improved our standing in four out of the seven KEF categories is an outstanding achievement for LBU and one that we can be incredibly proud of. This truly reflects our commitment to, and strength in, sharing our knowledge and expertise with the business community – in our region and beyond.
Leeds Beckett University offers a wide variety of mentoring services and funded knowledge exchange initiatives for businesses – from Government-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) innovation projects, to delivering the European Social Fund (ESF)-funded Women Empowered through Coaching and Networking (WECAN) project and the Government-funded Help to Grow: Management programme.
In 2022, LBU opened The Knowledge Exchange - a professional city centre space for collaboration, co-creation and innovation – an open door to access university knowledge, expertise and talent.
Natalie Allen Head of Business Partnerships
Natalie Allen, Head of Business Partnerships at LBU, said: “Our passion for bringing knowledge exchange to life in the region has manifested itself in a physical space at The Knowledge Exchange in The Rose Bowl. The space hosts a drop-in work café, an innovation pitching pod and multiple meeting rooms, along with permanent physical and virtual offices with the Business Centre at Queens Square.
“Since opening its doors last autumn, the space has been used by our ever growing and well-engaged business community, including academics, policy makers, local businesses, the voluntary and third sector, and entrepreneurial students. Engagements in The Knowledge Exchange are about building meaningful partnerships, sharing knowledge and best practice, and connecting businesses with our community and wider eco-system.
“Events and partnerships have included networking events for our Business Centre clients, quarterly ‘Living Lab: Business Support Masterclasses’ with Leeds City Council, ‘Business Sustainability’ events with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, a partnership launch with the Yorkshire Asian Business Association, a ‘Work Learn and Connect day’ with The Northern Affinity, sessions with our Help to Grow and #WECAN (Women Empowered through Coaching and Networking) networks, and the launch of YPERN (Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement and Research Network) at Leeds Beckett.
“It has been an exciting first year at The Knowledge Exchange and we’re excited to see the business community continue to develop and grow.”
LBU is now number 14 out of 106 providers in the UK for the size of its KTP programme. The KTP between Leeds Beckett University and multinational infrastructure and engineering company, Amey, was rated Outstanding by Innovate UK and created an estimated post-KTP profit of £1.3million by the third year. This summer, the University announced three new projects: with Aquatrust Water and Ventilation Limited, Sniffers Pet Care Limited and MPM Limited.
Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) - Leeds Beckett University and Riverside Greetings
The University’s research partnerships span areas of world-leading academic expertise – including our Sport research, spanning areas such as Applied Rugby Research, Social Justice, and the international iCoachKids partnership; the Leeds Sustainability Institute, the collaborative multi-disciplinary Obesity Institute and the Centre for Dementia Research.
KEF aims to improve the status of knowledge exchange and provide the public with information on the rich and diverse ways English universities continue to engage with society and the economy, locally, national and internationally.
The full dashboards are available on the KEF’s interactive website.
In this article
Professor Silke Machold
Silke Machold, PhD, is the Pro-Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation at Leeds Beckett University.
