UEL has positive impact on community: Research England
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Published
27 September 2022
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The University of East London has made a strong showing in a major national survey that records how research generated in the institution impacts on society.
The new figures for the Knowledge Exchange Framework, known as KEF2, have been released by Research England, indicating how universities are engaging with business and the community to boost areas such as innovation, regeneration and life-long learning.
The University of East London has traditionally focused its research on helping the community it serves, a tradition that was emphasised in the Vision 2028 transformation strategy.
This focus is reflected in the University's KEF results which show a top 20 per cent appearance nationally in metrics covering student start-ups, public and community engagement and Innovate projects funded by government agency Innovate UK.
KEF2 places universities into "clusters" with comparable institutions and measures them against seven "perspectives" which include strands such as "continuing professional development (CPD)", "local growth and regeneration" and "working with business" which indicates how a university commercialises its research.
In figures released on 27 September, the University equals or betters the cluster average in five perspectives out of seven with strong showings in public and community engagement where it has the highest mark - five out of five - indicating the highest level of engagement.
All the information and how it was assessed is available on new dashboards on the KEF's interactive website.
Professor Julia Davidson, interim pro vice chancellor for impact and innovation, said, "These new figures show that our research and innovation creates benefits and opportunities for all our communities.
"Throughout its history, the University of East London has always been a lever of change and we encourage our staff and students to use their careers to make a local and global impact. The KEF2 results confirm this approach works and makes a genuine difference."
Dr Paul Marshall, pro vice chancellor for careers and enterprise, said, "The results of KEF2 support our own evidence that there is a strong enterprising spirit within the student body at University of East London. The number of student start-ups and their impact on the community in terms of economic growth show that the development of careers and entrepreneurship benefits everybody."
KEF2 demonstrates the diversity of universities that support the government's key national and global priorities through these activities. The KEF is recognised by government as "valuable to capture contributions to economic growth, such as place and civic contributions" and plays an important part in driving forwards these agendas.
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.
"This 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."