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University achieves national recognition for Knowledge Exchange Framework

18/09/2024

University is nationally recognised for regeneration role in the latest Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) assessment  

The University of Wolverhampton has maintained its position as one of the top institutions nationally for local growth and regeneration, working with business and the public and third sector, and engaging with the public and community, according to new data.   

Research England’s Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF4) looks at the diverse contributions of universities to help level up their local areas, playing a key role in providing unique and important public information on the rich and diverse ways English universities continue to engage with society and our economy, locally, nationally, and internationally.  

The University has scored very high for local growth and regeneration, public and community engagement, working with business, which is an improvement on last year, and working with the public sector and third sector – placing it at the forefront of the sector and outperforming others in their cluster.  

Wolverhampton also scored ‘medium’ in research partnerships and CPD and grad start-ups, meaning all scores are ‘medium’ and above for all perspectives – maintaining its performance since last year’s results.  

The KEF allows universities to better understand and improve their own performance in knowledge exchange. It provides businesses and other users with more information to help them access world-class knowledge and expertise within universities across the UK.  

The KEF groups institutions into ‘clusters’– institutions with similar characteristics such as size, specialisation, how much research they do and in what subject areas. This is a more fair and balanced approach that avoids making unhelpful comparisons between incomparable institutions. Wolverhampton is in Cluster E, which is described as “large universities with a broad discipline of teaching across STEM and non-STEM generating excellent research across all disciplines.”  

Professor Prashant Pillai, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, said: “We are delighted to have received this improved recognition for our role as an anchor institution in our region. Our priorities are dictated by our place and communities and delivered through purposeful collaborative engagement.  

“We work in partnership at all levels; a collaborative ethos and approach that enables us to make the most meaningful and significant contribution in supporting our students and communities.  

“Creating and delivering life transforming opportunities in partnership with, and for, our students and our communities remains our core mission and institutional priority."   

This fourth iteration of the framework continues the robust unchanged technical methodology used in KEF2 and KEF3 and incorporates the latest data to provide up-to-date performance results.  

The latest KEF4 results provide an opportunity not just for an updated snapshot of the performance of HEPs against their peers, but for comparison between the results of these three iterations of results. The KEF looks at performance through both type of university and type of knowledge exchange activity. Particular strengths of the KEF are in demonstrating the range of valuable activities universities conduct with external partners across seven perspectives of KE, and demonstrating the diversity of universities that deliver important activities for our economy and society 

The University’s KEF submission included examples of key regeneration projects as follows:  

  • A state-of-the-art £5m Screen School. Officially opened in March 2022 it is an ambitious epicentre for stimulating screen-based culture, education, research and industrial development within the region and beyond. Working with external stakeholders, it provides a diverse student talent pipeline to address the known and anticipated skills gaps.  
  • The Marches Centre for Excellence for Health and Social Care. Opened in May 2021, this centre proactively addresses shortfalls in health professionals across the Marches area with an emphasis on local people and students who will be become regional key workers. The £5million health and social care centre received £3.5m Growth Deal funding from the Marches LEP. It provides hands-on experience and training to the next generation of key workers and features state-of-the-art training facilities including simulation facilities.  
  • The establishment of a National Brownfield Institute (NBI) in September 2022 at Springfield campus, led by the University, in partnership and supported by key stakeholders to create a world-class industry cluster focusing on brownfield regeneration. The NBI has a particular focus on the digital skills needed to transform the industry, bringing together expertise from across the region and further afield looking at construction design, building information modelling (BIM), off-site, modular construction, and lean construction methodologies.    

A new WLV Business Link network has been set up by the Research and Enterprise Directorate to support entrepreneurship, foster collaboration and drive economic growth. This new initiative aims to support organisations in connecting with each other to access resources and expertise. WLV Business Link will be launched officially on Thursday 26 September at the University of Wolverhampton Science Park. Book your place here. 

 

 

 

 

For more information please contact the Corporate Communications Team.

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