Impact where it matters
The economic, social and cultural benefits of higher education in the UK

A report for the Higher Education Funding Council for England drawing on a high level workshop involving senior officers of UK Higher Education Institutions, representatives from companies, social enterprises, central government, local and regional authorities, and other stakeholders

Download the report [316k PDF file; 50 pages]

Workshop Presentations

Workshop welcome & introduction : Dr Eoin O'Sullivan, R&D Interfaces Programme, University of Cambridge[344k PDF]

Keynote address

What are universities valued for? [1.3Mb PDF] Professor Julia King, Vice Chancellor at Aston University

Communities, clusters and regional impact

Creating value through collaborative advantage: a new partnership between universities and local authorities [80k PDF] Professor Tim Wilson, Vice Chancellor. University of Herfordshire and Ms Caroline Tapster, Chief Executive of Hertfordshire County Council

Universities and impact: Timescales, diversity and critical breadth [124k PDF] Professor Ian Leslie, Pro-VC for Research, University of Cambridge and Professor Walter Herriot OBE, Enterprise and Innovation Champion for EEDA (and formerly Managing Director of St John's Innovation Centre, Cambridge)

Engaging with the Region: Durham University’s evolving role in the north east of England [380k PDF] Professor Ray Hudson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Regional Strategy) Durham University

Making a difference: A social enterprise approach to regeneration [5.3Mb PDF] Kate Welch OBE, Chief Executive, Acumen Development Trust

Company partnerships, industry impact and 'Grand challenges'

Innovation in HEI / Industry Collaboration: Economic and research benefits (1) [1.1Mb PDF], Professor K Michael Spyer, Vice-Provost (Enterprise) UCL

Innovation in HEI / Industry Collaboration: Economic and research benefits (2) [972k PDF], Professor Jeremy Watson, Director: Global Research Arup

Making a difference: Becoming a business-facing university [752k PDF] Professor Madeleine Atkins, Vice Chancellor of Coventry University

Making the industrial / academic partnership work [1.3Mb PDF] Mr Bob Joyce, Group Engineering Director, Jaguar Land Rover

Further reading

The impact of universities on the UK economy - Fourth Report

Produced for Universities UK by Ursula Kelly, Donald McLellan and Iain McNicoll, University of Strathclyde

“The report confirms the growing economic importance of the sector, which had an income of £23.4 billion a year in 2007/08 (compared with £16.9 billion in 2003/04), gross export earnings of £5.3 billion and employed more than 1 per cent of the UK’s total workforce. In terms of its wider economic impact the sector generated over £59 billion of output. The equivalent figure five years ago was nearly £45 billion, confirming a rapid growth in economic impact.”

http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/Publications/Documents/EconomicImpact4Full.pdf

The higher education business and community interaction survey

“The annual HE-BCI survey examines the exchange of knowledge between universities and the wider world, and informs the strategic direction of ‘third stream’ activity that funding bodies and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK undertake.”

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/econsoc/buscom/hebci/

Leading the world – The economic impact of UK arts and humanities research

Arts & Humanities Research Council

http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/About/Policy/Documents/leadingtheworld.pdf

At home in renaissance Italy – An impact case study

Arts and Humanities Research Council

http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Documents/AHRC_Renaissance_Italy.pdf

Public support for innovation, intangible investment and productivity growth in the UK market sector

Jonathan Haskel and Gavin Wallis in a report that “suggests that the £3.5 billion a year currently spent on publicly funded research generates an additional annual output of £45 billion in UK companies”.

http://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/handle/10044/1/5280

Assessing the impact of arts and humanities research at the University of Cambridge

RAND Corporation, June 2010

Independent assessment by RAND Europe of the impact of arts and humanities activities conducted at the University of Cambridge, commissioned jointly by the University of Cambridge and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR816/

EPSRC Economic impact reporting framework 2008-09

“This report contains information requested by the government on selected aspects of the organisation’s performance. The frameworks were introduced across the research councils in 2005 and form part of the economic impact framework managed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.”

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2009/Pages/economicimpact.aspx

University of California economic impact studies

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/economy/impactreports.html

Medical research: assessing the benefits to society

A report by the UK Evaluation Forum, supported by the Academy of Medical Sciences, Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust. UK Evaluation Forum Medical research: assessing the benefits to society, May 2006

http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/images/project/Medicalr.pdf

Higher Education Innovation Fund round four institutional strategies: Overview and commentary

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2008/08_35/