GuildHE welcomes today’s announcement from Research England on the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) Metrics Consultation.

We are pleased to see that the proposal includes seven equally weighted perspectives of knowledge exchange including contributions to local growth and working with the third sector and does not just focus on the commercialisation of research.

Excellent knowledge exchange is found throughout the UK and across the whole of the research and innovation ecosystem. GuildHE members are close to the industries and professions they serve and have a strong track record of knowledge exchange in areas such as agriculture and food; education; maritime; health and sports and the creative disciplines.

We therefore welcome the encouragement from Research England for small or specialist institutions to volunteer to take part in a pilot exercise this year as we believe that this will help shape a KEF that works for everyone.

In particular, it is essential that the KEF acknowledges the difference between institutions that receive Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) and those that do not. Current funding rules for HEIF arbitrarily exclude smaller universities and colleges. This lack of core funding limits their ability and capacity to carry out valuable work that would support government in its ambition to boost productivity across the country. As a result, some institutions have greater knowledge exchange resources than others within clusters.

We look forward to working with our members and Research England as the KEF is developed so that we create a framework that truly represents and celebrates outstanding knowledge exchange wherever it is found.

The KEF metrics survey is being run through the Research England website until 14 March 2019 and can be found at https://re.ukri.org/knowledge-exchange/knowledge-exchange-framework/