Positions

• Director, Policy Evidence Unit for University Commercialisation and Innovation (UCI)
• National Advisor to Research England on knowledge exchange metrics

Research interests

• Universities and innovation systems: roles, contributions and diversity
• Influence of the demand and supply context on university-industry knowledge exchange
• Configurations of knowledge exchange support within universities
• University-industry partnership models
• Capturing and demonstrating knowledge exchange performance
• Improving the availability of robust evidence for knowledge exchange policymakers and practitioners

Background

I am the Director of the University Commercialisation and Innovation (UCI) Policy Evidence Unit at the University of Cambridge, and National Advisor to Research England on knowledge exchange metrics. I set up UCI in 2020 to support governments, funders, and universities in delivering a step change in the contributions universities can make to innovation and economic prosperity through their commercialisation and wider innovation-focused knowledge exchange activities and partnerships. In 2023, UCI was commissioned by Research England to support their development of a new national capability for KE data and metrics.

Our work aims to draw on the latest insights from both academia and practice, as well as learning from experiences in the UK and internationally.

I am an expert adviser to government funding agencies on knowledge exchange, and my work on the focus and impact of knowledge exchange funding has been instrumental in providing a robust evidence base to support their policy development and evaluation work. As part of my work for the Knowledge Exchange Framework Technical Advisory Group on Metrics, I developed the university clusters that underpin the KEF.

Prior to setting up the UCI Policy Evidence Unit, I was a researcher at the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy at the University of Cambridge. Until 2012 I was Assistant Director of a leading UK economic development consultancy, Public and Corporate Economic Consultants (PACEC) directing and managing a range of strategic development and evaluation projects for public policy clients in the area of knowledge exchange, innovation and regional economic development.

He has an M.Phil in Economics from the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge and a M.Eng in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London, where his dissertation focused on turbulent boundary layers under varying shear conditions.

Expert Group Memberships

• Member of the Knowledge Exchange Framework metrics technical advisory group
• Member of the Knowledge Exchange Framework Steering Group
• Member of the HEFCE Connecting Capability Fund Steering Group 
• Member of the McMillan Review of Good Practice in Technology Transfer

Selected Publications and Reports

• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Minshall, T. and Mortara, L.) (2017) Building Universities into Strategic Innovation System Actors: Exploring Transitions and Organisation-Level Support at the University of Cambridge, 1996-2015, conference paper presented at the Workshop on University-Industry Collaborations and Academic Entrepreneurship: East meets West, Bologna Business School, Italy, 5-6 June 2017
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Featherston, C.) (2016) The Nature, Location and Functioning of International Research Collaborations: A study of manufacturing research, a report for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Mina, A.) (2016) Corporate R&D location decisions in the UK life sciences sector, paper presented at the Workshop on Medical Innovation, SPRU, University of Sussex, UK, 15-16 December 2016
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Mina, A. and Probert, J.) (2015) Re-organising collaborative R&D in the pharmaceutical sector, paper presented to the Workshop on Medical Innovation, INGENIO, Valencia, Spain, 3-4 December 2015
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Minshall, T. and Mortara, A.) (2015) University-industry partnerships and open innovation: key developments and experiences from the University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge Centre for Technology Management working paper 2016-01
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (2015) Unlocking Added Value through Institutional Strategic University-Industry Partnerships, a submission to the Dowling Review on University-Business Collaboration
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (2015) Revisiting the Innovation and Economic Development Engines of Universities: Building Strategic Multi-Focus Knowledge Hubs, in National Centre for Universities and Business State of the Relationship Report 2015
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (2015) Commercialising University Research: Building Multi-Focus Knowledge Hubs and the Rise of Strategic Partnerships, Stimulus paper for the British Council Global Education Dialogue
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (2015) Assessing the Economic Impacts of the Higher Education Innovation Fund: a Mixed-Method Quantitative Assessment, a report to HEFCE
• Ulrichsen, T. (with O'Sullivan, E.) (2014) Building Long Term Strategic University-Industry Partnerships: Lessons and Effective Practices from UK and US Experiences, workshop full report
• Ulrichsen, T. (with O'Sullivan, E.) (2014) Building Long Term Strategic University-Industry Partnerships: Lessons and Effective Practices from UK and US Experiences, workshop summary report
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Moore B., and Hughes, A.) (2014) Measuring University-Business Links in the United States, a report to HEFCE
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (2014) Knowledge Exchange Performance and the Impact of HEIF in the English Higher Education Sector, a report to HEFCE
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with PACEC) (February 2012) Strengthening the Role of English Higher Education Institutions in the Innovation System: Knowledge Exchange and HEIF Funding 2011-15, a report to HEFCE
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Hughes, A., and Moore, B.) (2011) “Evaluating Innovation Policies: A Case Study of the Impact of Third Stream Funding in the English Higher Education Sector”, in eds (Colombo, M., Grilli, L., and Piscitello, L.) (2011) Science and Innovation Policy for the New Knowledge Economy, (PRIME Series on Research and Innovation Policy in Europe), Edward Elgar: Cheltenham

CBR-PACEC Special Report Series on Knowledge Exchange

• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Hughes, A., and Moore, B.) (2010) The system of Knowledge Exchange Infrastructure: A comparison of the English Higher Education Sector with the US, a report to HEFCE by PACEC and the Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Hughes, A., and Moore, B.) (2010) Synergies and trade-offs between Research, Teaching and Knowledge Exchange, a report to HEFCE by PACEC and the Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Hughes, A., and Moore, B.) (2010) The role of Knowledge Exchange in generating civic and community impacts, a report to HEFCE by PACEC and the Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Hughes, A., and Moore, B.) (2010) Intellectual Property Regimes and the Implications for Knowledge Exchange, a report to HEFCE by PACEC and the Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Hughes, A., and Moore, B.) (2009) Evolution of the System of Knowledge Exchange Infrastructure, a report to HEFCE by PACEC and the Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge
• Ulrichsen, T.C. (with Hughes, A., and Moore, B.) (2009) Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Role of HEFCE/OSI Third Stream Funding, report 2009/15 to HEFCE by PACEC and the Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge