1. What is the Future for Academic consortia ?

2. The Future for Academic Consortia
Dr Sarah Tetley
University of Kent
Eastern ARC Officer

3. Eastern ARC now Kent, Essex and UEA (2013)
Focus : Research and Research Training
Three thematic areas : Digital Humanities; Quantitative Social Sciences; Synthetic Biology
Investment in People : 9 x Fellows; 21 PhDs + support staff, £1m per year
9 x Academic Leads
2014 – set up
2015 /16 first full(ish) operational year
Just a reminder for people who perhaps don’t know…where we have come from.
So…how have we done….to next slides.

4. Where do we see ourselves going ?
Building on the last 12 months
Embracing new opportunities – mapping our strengths to funders priorities
Developing and reporting upon KPIs
Raising our profile – internally and externally e.g. relationship with RCUK
Building capacity in research support / leadership
Regional development: Thames Estuary Growth Commission
Learning from other networks, e.g. GW4, U4, N8….continuing to make the case for academic research consortia
We hope to issue a report describing successes and achievements to date as well as capturing the key content from today’s conference by the end of the year. Please use the opportunity of that report to share what we have been doing more widely.

5. The Future for Academic Consortia Dr Nick Goldspink N8 Research Partnership

6. About N8 Now… 3 Priorities Promoting collaboration
Establishing innovative research capabilities & programmes of national and international prominence
Driving economic growth
Funded Programmes
N8 Agri-Food Resilience Programme
N8 Policing Research Partnership
N8 Industry Innovation Forum
Policy Interests
Shared Facilities and Capital Equipment

7. Where do we see ourselves going?
Change of Director – change of priority
Research Collaborations
ISCF, GCRF
Industry Engagement
Forum and other activities
Internationalisation
Policy
Northern Powerhouse, Innovation

8. The Future for Academic Consortia
Dr Sarah Perkins
GW4

9. About the GW4 Alliance now…
We champion research and innovation for the ‘Great West’
We identify and deliver great research at scale through our 71 collaborative research communities
We are building a pipeline of talent for the region through our 39 Doctoral Training Programmes and staff development opportunities
We bring world-leading equipment and facilities to our doorstep

10. Where do we see ourselves going?
Launching the new research and innovation strategy for the GW4 Alliance
Introducing a suite of strategic initiatives addressing the Industrial Strategy and Global Challenges Research Fund
Increasing our public affairs profile (for example, our new GW4 Thought Leadership series)
Leading the Great West Taskforce, a consortia that developed the Science and Innovation Audit (GW4, UWE Plymouth Uni., LEPs, Welsh Government and business)

11. The Future For Academic Consortia
Dr Helen Turner

12. About Midlands Innovation now…
A leading university research and innovation partnership, pooling the collective excellence of universities in the Midlands to drive growth across the region.
First regional equipment database.
£60M Energy Research Accelerator (ERA).
HPC Midsplus.
Midlands Graduate School (ESRC).
Led Midlands Science and Innovation Audit.
HE Technicians Summit

13. Where do we see ourselves going ?
Playing a leading role within the Midlands Engine for Growth.
Building on the Energy Research Accelerator.
Developing new programmes aligned with the Midlands SIA.
Building on the success of the HE Technicians Summit.
Establishing a number of strategic research communities.

14. The Future for Academic Consortia
Dr Gijs Couke
University of Gent

15. About Universities of Ghent, Uppsala, Groningen, Göttingen
‘Strategic Institutional Partnerhip’
Universities of Ghent, Uppsala, Groningen, Göttingen
Aim: strengthening the individual position through intensive cooperation in Education, Research and Institutional Management
Clustered Cooperation: Humanities, Medicine, Science & Technology, Social Sciences, Economics & Law, Institutional Management
Multidimensional

16. Research aims Incentive funding (‘embedment at grassroots level’)
PhD education – young researchers
Transregional Graduate School + supportive services
Multiplicator-effect (Joint PhD framework)
Partner pooling (cf. Erasmus Mundus Action 2 consortia a.o.)

17. The Future for Academic Consortia
Dr Alice Brewer
University of East Anglia
Operational Manager, EnvEast DTP

18. About EnvEast now…
71 academics currently working as primary supervisors.
Widening the horizons of PGRs and ECRs through cohort training and diverse opportunities
A collaboration between Universities of East Anglia, Kent and Essex, and over 20 non-HEI partners
supporting over 100 PhD students in four cohorts, hosted at 7 different sites
Funding for research, innovation, development of training, industry/academia sandpits, internships
Brokering new collaborations, partnerships, inter-institution
research

19. Where do we see ourselves going ?
The next call for DTP funding is later this year
Increased collaboration both within and outside of the consortium
A Legacy of spin-off multi-disciplinary training courses and events
Increased engagement with research-users

20. So…what is the Future for Academic consortia ?