The University of Birmingham has improved its performance in the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), becoming one of only two English higher education institutions to achieve five quintile 5 scores.
KEF demonstrates the range of valuable activities universities conduct with external partners across seven perspectives. The University of Birmingham is rated in the top quintile for five of the seven perspectives: research partnerships, working with the public and third sector, local growth and regeneration, IP and commercialisation, and public and community engagement.
We pride ourselves on the impact that we have on Birmingham and the Midlands region, not only as one of Birmingham’s biggest employers but through our research and our relationships with civic partners, communities and businesses.
Professor Rachel O'Reilly, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research)
Rachel O’Reilly, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) said: “KEF provides unique and important public information on the rich and diverse ways that English universities engage with society and our economy, locally, nationally, and internationally. We are thrilled that it recognises our strengths across a broad range of indicators and are particularly pleased that hard work in relation to public and community engagement has yielded an improved score.”
“We pride ourselves on the impact that we have on Birmingham and the Midlands region, not only as one of Birmingham’s biggest employers but through our research and our relationships with civic partners, communities and businesses.”
Universities teach students and undertake research that creates new and useful knowledge. They also work with many different types of partners to ensure that this knowledge can be used for the benefit of the economy and society - this is known as knowledge exchange. These partners range from individual members of the public who may attend events organised by a university, to a multinational company partnering with a university to develop new medicines.
Developed by Research England - part of UK Research & Innovation, the aim of the KEF is to increase efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public funding for knowledge exchange and to further a culture of continuous improvement in universities. It allows universities to better understand and improve their own performance, as well as provide businesses and other users with more information to help them access world-class knowledge and expertise.
KEF is one of a number of indices in which the University of Birmingham has seen improved performance in the past 12 months. It rose seven places to 84 in the QS World University Rankings and secured a gold award at the Engage Watermark Awards.
