Engagement or engaged research? What does social sciences offer and what do businesses want? Dr Fiona Whitehurst Knowledge Transfer and the Social Sciences: Policy and Practical Experiences, Newcastle University Business School 11 th June 2009 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this presentation are my personal views and are not necessarily shared by Newcastle University or Newcastle University Business School.

2 Date Business University Interaction: A Contradictory Picture “It’s never been more important, or more timely, for businesses to look at what’s on offer on their doorstep, or for universities to show what they can do to help.” Universities UK, 2009 “Barriers rising between business and universities” Guardian 12 March 2009

3 Date Newcastle University’s mission ‘To be a world-class research-intensive university, to deliver teaching of the highest quality, and to play a leading role in the economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England’

4 Date How does Newcastle University define engagement? Engagement ranges from volunteering, charitable activities, practical work (with communities, disadvantaged minorities, small businesses and other ‘hard-to-reach’ groups), public service and civic duties, to more specific ‘academic’ activities such as collaborative research, co- production of knowledge with diverse communities of interest, knowledge transfer, CPD, contribution of expertise, education for citizenship, consultancy, public information and lectures, and the promotion of public understanding of complex issues. Professor Paul Younger, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement

5 Date How does Newcastle University define engagement? Engagement ranges from volunteering, charitable activities, practical work (with communities, disadvantaged minorities, small businesses and other ‘hard-to-reach’ groups), public service and civic duties, to more specific ‘academic’ activities such as collaborative research, co- production of knowledge with diverse communities of interest, knowledge transfer, CPD, contribution of expertise, education for citizenship, consultancy, public information and lectures, and the promotion of public understanding of complex issues.

6 Date Engagement with the subsea industry Subsea Industry 40,000 UK employees 5,000 NE employees Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), valves, pipelines, controls and other complex machinery Depths of up to 3,000 metres, operating life 25 years or more GVA per employee for 5 main subsea companies in region at £77,000 exceeds that for pharmaceuticals in the region Photo courtesy of IHC Engineering Business Limited

7 Date Specific ‘academic’ activities ESRC Business Engagement Funding (c£75,000) Identifying and addressing the skills needs of the sector Seminars, placements, impact study Traditional research interviews, technical seminars, meet the students, partnerships to encourage children into engineering ONE Higher Level Skills Funding (c£0.6M) Development of MSc in Subsea Engineering & Management Partnership with Newcastle College - creating Foundation Degree in Subsea Engineering Short course development Research Teaching

8 Date Less specific ‘academic activities’ – contribution of expertise? Member of Subsea North East’s Executive Committee Regular commitment to attend meetings and social events Meetings at ONE and Discovery Museum Attending UKTI events on behalf of Subsea NorthEast Point of contact for all queries Contributor to the North Bank of the Tyne study

9 Date Non-academic activities?? Brokering relationships between firms and students Promoting engineering to children Initiator and organiser of Energise Your Future March 2009 Helping Subsea North East participate in the Youth Engineering Show, June 2009

10 Date Impact For Firms Practical application of inter-disciplinary expertise to their real world (*non-technical) problems Brokering of new relationships Collaborative design of new course provision Facilitated interaction with students through a variety of activities Assistance in delivering their “civic” agendas

11 Date Impact For the institution Contribution to the ‘civic university’ agenda Enable alignment of need for high-quality research with civic agenda Increasingly likely to be a requirement of funders Contribution to accreditation agenda Enhancement of student experience e.g. site visits, guest lecturers, research projects

12 The Challenge of getting to C Date New Times demand New Scholarship: Research Universities and Civic Engagement: New Opportunities and Challenges content/uploads/initiatives/research_universities/Civic_Engagement.pdf Take the risk of starting at B

13 Date Starting at B Don’t start with a market based relationship Actively engage with business to set (research) agendas Accept that Universities have deliverables from which you as an individual will receive no (direct) benefit Realise that the indirect benefits may be priceless