February 2020 highlights

The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Further and Higher Education - Prize winners include:

• UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD: Innovative research in rail engineering, to improve safety and efficiency through technological developments in the interface of rolling stock and track;
• THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD: Ground-breaking research which is improving treatment and care for people with neurodegenerative diseases including MS, Alzheimer’s and MND;
• UNIVERSITY OF YORK: Ground-breaking research in protein science leading to new drugs and therapies for diabetes and other conditions, and improved industrial processes.

Congratulations!

News item: Northern business leaders call on Government for commitment to key investments to ‘level-up' UK economy

The Chairs for the 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the North of England, known collectively as the Northern Powerhouse 11 (the NP11), met with Government Ministers and Northern MPs in Parliament today to outline proposals for levelling-up the UK's economy ahead of next month's Budget.

Read more here, also see the NP11 Manifesto here.

Policy Briefing: Million Plus - SPF2020: How the Shared Prosperity Fund can protect the UK economy

'Everything changes on 1 January 2021. The UK will have reached the end of the post-Brexit transition period, under which it continues currently to benefit from membership of the European Union and moves to new arrangements as a third country (in the EU parlance). The end of that transition period also marks the end of the country’s participation in a series of programmes that collectively invested nearly €16.5bn into the UK since 2014. These programmes – the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development – have been of huge value to the UK, in particular to the areas of the country outside the growth engines of London and the south east. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions have benefited enormously from this investment, seeing major projects implemented.'

Read in full here.

The Final Report of the UK2070 Commission: Make No Little Plans – Acting At Scale For A Fairer And Stronger Future

See the full report and executive summary below or on the UK2070 website:

Papers in Innovation Studies, Paper no. 2020/03: Innovation without regional development? The complex interplay of innovation, institutions and development

Authors: Pedro Marques, Kevin Morgan

Abstract: This paper argues that the development of regional innovation concepts drawing primarily on the experiences of advanced regions, has meant that the dominant narratives about regional development are not adequate to explain the experiences of less developed regions (LDRs). Drawing on the extensive experience of the authors doing research in LDRs, the paper develops three main arguments: first, the emphasis put on networks and systems means that not enough attention is paid to the internal capabilities of organisations, including those of firms, Universities and the public sector.

These capabilities shape the strategies of these organisations regarding innovation and collaboration, and therefore influence the nature and content of innovation systems. Second, the paper argues that too much attention has been paid to the importance of informal institutions, rather than analysing the dynamic interaction between formal and informal institutions. The latter approach allows us to avoid culturally deterministic interpretations of under-development and to think about ways in which formal policies could help to improve innovation environments. Third, the paper argues that innovation at the firm level does not always lead to improvement in productivity and economic growth at the aggregate scale.

This is partly due to the effects of the dynamics discussed in the two previous points, but is also because advanced regions benefit from a socio-economic ecosystem which supports the translation of new ideas into economic activity. This means that though innovation is fundamental for long-term economic growth, it is not sufficient without mechanisms that ensure its dissemination through the entirety of the economic system.

Read in full here.

Journal: AGCAS - Phoenix

This issue focuses on enterprise and entrepreneurship. As graduates are increasingly required to demonstrate great career agility to navigate an ever complex and transient labour market, a deeper understanding and interpretation of what it is to be entrepreneurial has never been more important. Enterprise education has therefore become a prominent feature of the employability narrative.

"In this issue of our journal, we share examples of how AGCAS members across the UK are committed to developing the entrepreneurial skills of all students, redefining the concept of ‘entrepreneurialism’ and its application across all disciplines and career pathways, to demonstrate a far broader relevance than just to those students who wish to start their own business."

Read it in full here

Blog: CITY-REDI - 'Universities and Regional Economies: A Peek Into the Wild Side' by Author Diana Gutierrez Posada

"There is a great divide among academics and the public as to the awareness of the potential impact of universities in their local areas. Naturally, academics have examined the role of universities through a variety of impact channels. However, it is only recently that a concentrated effort is being made to share this evidence with the rest of society."

Read more here.

Blog: NCUB - 'Reshuffle: splitting the deck'

"As we now know – or think we know (an important distinction in policy and in life), we have two new leaders of the higher education and science portfolios, departmental areas previously bridged by one Minister. "

Read more here.

Blog: NCUB - 'Research funding, universities and the place agenda'

"While regionalism and place have been climbing the agenda for several years, a new Conservative majority built on a swathe of northern, de-industrialised towns, has given the Government a stronger impetus than ever to boost regional economic growth and tackle the entrenched structural problems within the UK economy."

Read more here.

Blog: WonkHE - 'Preparing graduates for jobs that don’t yet exist'

"Industry 4.0” is staring us in the face. Robots are coming to take over the world. And the question of how universities – either in their formal teaching or learning, or though extra- or co-curricular activity and support, can prepare graduates for jobs that “don’t yet exist”, is one I’m hearing more and more – both inside and around the edges of the sector."

Read more here.

Blog: WonkHE - 'How university estates can serve the communities that house them'

"The university sector is currently undergoing many changes. Much of this change is in the form of new investment, creating new buildings to meet the demands of new and emerging study areas, as well as a desire to improve and upgrade ageing stock."

Read more here.

Blast from the past report: ScaleUp Institute - Explore the ScaleUp Annual Review 2019

The ScaleUp Institute continues to make a real impact on scale ups across the country through their research and education programmes.

This Review highlights the strong progress made, and some of the crucial opportunities and challenges to address moving forward to help businesses unlock their potential and scale-up.

Explore the review here.

Data release: HESA - Performance Indicators

On Thursday 13 February, HESA released new statistics showing the proportion of students from participation neighbourhoods and state schools at each HE provider. Key findings from the data include:

• In 2018−19, 11.4% of young entrants to full-time first degree courses were from low participation neighbourhoods. This is the same as 2017−18 and 0.3 percentage points higher than 2015−16
• In 2018−19, the proportion of mature entrants (aged 21 or over) from low participation neighbourhoods starting part-time undergraduate courses was 9.3%, up from 8.4% in 2017−18
• In 2018−19, the proportion of young entrants to full-time first degree courses from state schools was 90.0% – the same proportion as in 2015−16 and 2016−17, and 0.1 percentage points higher than in 2017−18
• Wide variation by providers e.g. providers with low indicators are more likely to be specialist music and art colleges, or research-intensive universities with high entry requirements.

You can find more information on the data here.

Blog: WONKHE - 'Where’s the value debate about to go next?' by Debbie McVitty

The question of “value for money” has been floating around English higher education since the advent of £9k fees. The calculation at the time was that students would naturally expect “more” from the student experience, which universities would duly deliver.

Read more here.

Projects: UKRI citizen science & public engagement

Last week UKRI announced the launch of 53 new projects to involve people in research that's relevant to their lives and local areas: 25 of these are public engagement projects and 28 are citizen science projects.

This week we got the project summaries including:

• University of Bradford - Bradford community connectors: shaping research into healthcare improvement A collaboration with Millside Community Centre and an arts company - ‘Ministry of Others’, using creative processes to understand what matters most to communities about health. Putting local community experiences, needs, interests and challenges to set priorities in applied health research and co-create health research for better and safer care
• University of York - Stories in the Sky: digital placemaking University of York archaeologists and the Residents’ Association of Park Hill Flats in Sheffield are coproducing a digital application to enhance resident-led tours of the estate. This will engage visitors with the complex history of this 1950s council housing initiative, currently undergoing regeneration, and becoming home to a diversified community.
• University of Hull - Citizen Inquiry: Barriers, Challenges and Enablers for Public Engagement Citizen Science is being used to focus on issues around plastics waste. A series of workshops with researchers and young people from youth organisations in the city of Hull will explore how the use of Citizen Inquiry might incentivise both groups to get more involved in this kind of activity.

Read more here.

Project: Thyme - a collaboration between the universities of York, Hull and Teesside

The THYME project, a North of England project designed to improve productivity of the local circular bioeconomy and biobased companies. This project is a collaboration between the universities of York, Hull and Teesside. THYME focuses on three areas: transforming bio-based waste into new products, converting industrial sites by re-purposing them for bio-based manufacturing and, growing the region’s bioeconomy by bringing together research and commercialisation capacities.

The Bioeconomy Game can be used to educate students about sustainability as well as training aid in the workplace. It gives players a better understanding of how products are made from renewable resources. During the game players must minimise the amount of waste that goes to landfill by creating added value from it. The game encourages players to work together to support each other and manage challenges. To find out more visit the Bioeconomy Game's website.

Project: UUK - on the enhancement and growth of higher and further education partnerships

UUK is working with the Association of Colleges and the CBI to develop proposals for the enhancement and growth of higher and further education partnerships. The aim is to agree a set of policy proposals for action by universities, further education colleges and government to enhance partnerships that support increasing opportunities for learners, meet employer skills needs and support local economic growth.

The project is planning to publish an agreed set of policy proposals in June 2020 drawing upon detailed discussions with universities and colleges and possibly some student research. For further information, please contact Greg Wade.

Report: APPG on Longevity - The Health of the Nation - A Strategy for Healthier Longer Lives

"What helps us live longer and healthier? This is a question that more and more organisations are asking, including ourselves. This month sees the publication of The Health of the Nation - A Strategy for Healthier Longer Lives, a new strategy by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Longevity. We were pleased to be asked to contribute our views as the national strategy was being developed, sharing what we’re learning about health inequalities and the social determinants of health through our work on urban health and specifically our programme on multiple-long term conditions. A publication like this is always a welcome step, particularly where it recognises the importance of the social determinants of health in addressing inequalities."

Read more here and see related article in the Guardian here.

Report: OECD - Enhancing Innovation Capacity in City Government

Demographic changes, climate change, and the advent of new technologies will dramatically change our cities and the way we live, demanding that civic leaders adapt and operate in radically new ways.

This site identifies and shares how cities around the world are investing in innovation, to ensure they’re constantly assessing and improving how they’re tackling problems and improving the lives of residents. This map is based on an initial survey of cities in OECD and non-OECD countries. The city information reflects data gathered from the city administration at the time of the survey.

You can download the report here.

Press release: BEIS - Simplified processes provide welcome boost for UK researchers

The government has announced a trial of new simplified processes for applying for project funding, removing the unnecessary requirement to precisely forecast the long-term benefits of projects that often have unpredictable results. This builds on a previously announced review of bureaucracy in research.

Two new programmes will play a part in the trial - an EPSRC pilot call for six page proposals for transformative research projects across mathematics and the physical sciences, and an NERC call for projects where proposals extend to seven pages. The total value of the two calls is £20m

Read more here, here and here.

News item: UKRI - New online portal helps everyone access the UK's Research and Innovation infrastructure

"Building on our infrastructure opportunities report, together with the landscape report and to encourage and help everyone access research and innovation infrastructure, UKRI has launched a new interactive portal. The InfraPortal showcases the many exciting opportunities for research and innovation that the UK offers. Since we unveiled the portal in November, around 50 additional infrastructures have been added. The InfraPortal will be continually expanded to include additional infrastructures that are externally accessible and receive some public funding.

We are witnessing a new industrial revolution and the UK is extraordinarily well-placed to benefit from it. The ability to do so is rooted in research and innovation infrastructure that brings together global talent from across disciplines and economic sectors to tackle society’s most complex challenges and drive economic growth."

Read more here.

Knowledge Exchange Concordat in England

UUK has published, in collaboration with GuildHE and Research England, the analysis of responses to the consultation on the Knowledge Exchange Concordat. The consultation showed positive endorsement of the principles of the KE concordat but uncertainty over the practical implementation.

The UK Board endorsed the KE Concordat at its meeting on 31 January 2020 and agreed to support a joint development year in partnership with Research England, GuildHE and NCUB to work with institutions and stakeholders to develop and demonstrate the value of the KE Concordat. The UUK Board expressed thanks to Professor Trevor McMillan, Vice-Chancellor of Keele University, for leading the work that underpinned the development of the Concordat.

For more information, please contact Greg Wade.

Blog: THE - Rebalancing UK research funding regionally: how could it happen?

"This month brought yet more insight into dismally unequal economic performance across the UK regions. According to new Office for National Statistics data, output per hour grew in six regions in 2018, including London and the south east (which were already streets ahead of the rest). But it shrank in six regions: down by 2.5 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber, 2 per cent in Northern Ireland, 1 per cent in Wales, 0.8 per cent in the north east."

Read more here.

Blog: Approach to judging the ‘value’ of a degree needs overhaul

"Measures used to assess the value of a degree course could be completely overhauled under proposals to government put forward by Universities UK (UUK). In future, government and universities would be able to use a new tool which measures the value of individual subjects beyond just graduate earnings. This could be to the benefit of students themselves as well as to wider society and the economy."

Read it in full on UUK. Read more about this in the THE here.

Blog: WonkHE - How can universities respond strategically to the climate emergency?

"Under growing pressure from students, many UK universities have declared a climate emergency, with several writing strategies for how their institution should tackle climate change. This is critical work. But it risks falling apart when universities’ climate ambitions come into conflict with their other strategic goals."

Read the blog in full here.

Read related White Paper from the University of Exeter here.

Blog: HEPI - #RESHUFFLE – The 10 crucial things any new Minister for Universities needs to know by Dr Diana Beech

This guest blog has been written in a personal capacity by Dr Diana Beech (Head of Government Affairs at the University of Warwick). Diana was Policy Adviser for higher education to various Ministers for Universities and Science (Sam Gyimah, Jo Johnson and Chris Skidmore – twice!), a role she fulfilled after a stint as HEPI’s first ever Director of Policy and Advocacy.

Read in full here.

Blog: YHAHSN - Health inequalities – always someone else’s problem? by Michael Wood

"A common challenge for our leaders is understanding the difference between what you can control and what you can influence. This is particularly the case in times of austerity where the resources and reach of our local statutory sectors often diminishes, resulting in a lack of strategic focus on those stubborn, yet critical, wider ‘place’ problems."

Here Michael Wood reflects on our YHealth for Growth conference, held in Leeds in partnership with the NHS Confederation and Yorkshire Universities and highlights some of the necessary next steps needed to address health inequalities.

Read more here

Report: ERC - The Role of Innovation in Small Business Performance: A Regional Perspective

The Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS) allows for more consistent SME analyses for the UK than ever before by tracking the same firms over time. Our research looks at the regional context, as well as firm specific variables, that are associated with labour productivity outcomes for SMEs. The paper considers the role of City-Region characteristics, as defined in terms of labour market, business dynamics, R&D spend and City-Region agglomeration on labour productivity, alongside firm-level associations.

The paper addresses a research gap in our understanding of how City-Region characteristics support the SME community in Britain by seeking to tease out the channels through which the benefits might accrue. Improving our knowledge of these channels could potentially enable more effective support provision from a policy perspective.

Here you can download the executive summary, full report as well as the policy briefing.

DfE Research and Analysis: Labour market and skills projections: 2017 to 2027

Working Futures provides a comprehensive and detailed model of the UK labour market and skills needs. It projects the future size and shape of the labour market by considering employment prospects by industry, occupation, qualification level, gender and employment status.

This edition of the report projects labour market information for the period 2017 to 2027.

See all related reports here.

BEIS Research and Analysis: BEIS areas of research interest: interim update 2020 - A summary statement of BEIS research need

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) needs robust research to help us to:

• understand the challenges we face
• choose between different routes to delivering on our objectives
• be well prepared for the future

The areas of research interest informs those who fund and provide research on questions and challenges around some of the most important priority areas for the department.

Read more here.

ONS - Regional labour productivity, including industry by region, UK: 2018

Regional output per hour and output per job, and an experimental analysis of the performance of output per hour levels and growth by industry and region.

Have a look in more detail here.

Presentation: Keynote at the 2020 Geography of Innovation Conference - Inclusive Regional Innovation Policy - A critical survey by Neil Lee

Go to slideshare to see the slides.

Blog: WonkeHE - UCAS end of cycle 2019 – provider data

"So how did everyone get on? The traditional end of January release isn’t the first time providers have seen their own UCAS admissions numbers, of course – but it is the first time we get to see everyone’s numbers together outside of UCAS’ offices on New Barn Lane in Cheltenham."

Read more here.

Blog: HEPI - 'What is an apprenticeship, and should higher education have a role in delivering them?'

This blog was kindly contributed by Dr Scott Kelly. Scott lectures in British Politics at NYU and was an adviser to the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning 2010-12.

"Although the apprenticeship levy has been in effect for less than three years, it has, in that short time, had a dramatic impact on the system. While headlines focus on the overall fall in learner numbers, there has also been a significant increase in those studying at higher levels. The numbers studying at levels 4 to 7, the equivalent of the first year of a bachelor degree up to masters level, has grown by 9 percentage points. By contrast, those studying at the GCSE equivalent level 2 has shrunk by 15 per cent. These figures represent a huge change, not just in the level of provision, but also in who is studying and where. On average, apprentices are older, already in work and more likely to doing their off-the-job training at a higher education institution."

Read more here.

Blog & paper: HEPI - 'Why we must listen to the voices of part-time students'

"A new paper from the Higher Education Policy Institute, Unheard: the voices of part-time adult learners (HEPI Report 124) by Dr John Butcher of the Open University, considers the sharp decline in part-time learning through the voices of students. "

Read more here.