Celebrating our place at the heart of economic growth and regeneration

The KEF results, published this week by Research England, also highlight us as one of the top performing universities in the country when it comes to our work with the public and third sector.  

The results reveal that we’ve been classed as having ‘Very High Engagement’, the highest ranking in these categories. 

Professor Kevin Kerrigan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: “We believe in the power of partnerships, and are committed to working with communities and businesses in our region to shape a successful future, underpinned by sustained economic growth.  

“I’m delighted that this work has been recognised in the latest KEF, especially at such an exciting time for our region as we look to harness opportunities presented by devolution. Fostering an environment in which our research and expertise can benefit people across our region will be key to this process, and something we are committed to as a civic institution.” 

We've continued to show a strong performance across all 7 of the 'perspectives', or areas, measured in the KEF, which demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the benefits of our research and Knowledge Exchange activity are as far reaching as possible. We're also incredibly proud of our work across the wide range of Knowledge Exchange activities, including undertaking research for businesses, commercialisation of our knowledge; and providing continuing professional development. 

Professor Fiona Matthews, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), added: 

“I’d like to recognise the huge amount of work from colleagues across the University in forging and fostering these invaluable external partnerships. This is something we will continue to explore during our upcoming Research Celebration Week, and beyond. The research and impact you are co-creating are making a real difference to people in our region, to the organisations they work in, and to the place they call home.” 

Through Knowledge Exchange partnerships, we continue our work across a number of key areas to generate growth and tackle pressing issues facing communities in our region.  

Just one example of our support for local growth is our work with Gateway Chassis Solutions, helping them find ways to improve working conditions, reduce energy consumption and limit harmful environmental emissions. Drawing on expertise from the Aura Innovation Centre and our experts in Chemical Engineering, and with ERDF-funded support, an innovative extraction solution using new nano-material was recommended and is now in the next phase of industrial scale development.  

The ‘Risky Cities' project exemplifies our collaborative approach, working with and within communities to co-create arts and heritage projects that raise awareness of flooding and flood risk measures. Recognition of the value of this participatory approach has led to our institution becoming the lead of a new national £2m network, Coast-R, which is working towards resilience for our coastal communities and seas.  

Through the ‘Changing Perspectives: Amplifying the Voices of Colour at Hull Museums’ Knowledge Exchange initiative, Dr Nick Evans engaged underrepresented communities in the development of exhibitions. The success of this project led to Dr. Evans’ work being shortlisted for the Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year category in the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards. 

Emma Calverley, Director of Knowledge Exchange, said: “We are delighted to continue to be recognised for the work that we are doing to strengthen our region, laying strong foundations for growth through our partnerships with businesses, public groups and the third sector.  

“Knowledge Exchange not only supports direct growth through regeneration and business development, it’s also about helping to improve the quality of life for people across our region. The ‘exchange’ element of this way of working cannot be underestimated. The learnings we take away from these projects enhance everything we do, including how we support and teach our students – who in turn will shape our future businesses and communities.” 

Emma continued: ‘I’d also like to recognise the hard work that goes into putting the KEF submissions together. It’s a difficult, but rewarding task, bringing together all of our achievements and hard work over the past year, and one of which we should be rightly proud.’  

About the Knowledge Exchange Framework  

KEF forms the third pillar of assessment of universities’ activities, alongside the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and was developed by Research England to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of Knowledge Exchange in universities. 

It is the fourth year universities have been benchmarked against seven key areas, providing a picture of how they engage with external partners to contribute both to the economy and society.