News

31 March 2021 Information about the ways universities help level up their local areas is one of the highlights of the data released in the first iteration of Research England’s Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) at midday today (31 March 2021).

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) part of UK Research and Innovation, is currently seeking proposals to the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) Enterprise Fellowship programme which supports researchers who wish to play a key role in the commercialisation of their research.

Dear PraxisAuril friends and colleagues,   We have an exciting time ahead at PraxisAuril as we exploit digital channels, develop our offering in response to the changing needs of the many differing segments of the KE community and seek to grow our wonderful and committed volunteer base.  We are keen to have as broad a group of people as possible participating as volunteer trainers, board members, conference contributors and much more.  I hope you consider getting involved in a way that interests and suits you.

A new programme of support for businesses in South London, was launched today by Councillor Gareth Roberts, Leader of Richmond Council and Chair of the South London Partnership, a sub-regional collaboration of five London boroughs; Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames and Sutton.

As some of you may know, Alasdair Cameron, Director of Strategic Engagement will be moving on from PraxisAuril in the next few months.

Universities UK  (UUK) and GuildHE have released documents detailing how HEIs in England can sign-up to the eight KE Concordat principles and participate in the KEC development year. The KE Concordat is a UK-wide initiative with different arrangements in different nations of the UK, however institutions from across the UK can participate in the development year.

Universities UK (UUK) has released the long-awaited Knowledge Exchange (KE) Concordat to ensure that universities and other providers of higher education and research work as effectively as possible with each other, with businesses and with other organisations. This comes at a vital time as the UK continues to fight back against Covid-19 and as PraxisAuril members demonstrate the importance of knowledge exchange to local and national economic and social outcomes. Improving links between universities and businesses will further develop societal and economic impact. Universities can build on their leading role in society and develop links between UK institutions, industry and local communities by committing to better exchange of information, knowledge and skills.

ATTP, the global alliance of national peak professional bodies for commercialisation, industry engagement and entrepreneurship, has a new chair – Dr Tim Boyle, Director of Innovation & Commercialisation at ANSTO, Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. At ANSTO, Dr Boyle leads nandin, ANSTO’s Innovation Centre and drives strategic initiatives towards challenge-based innovation, research commercialisation and economic development.

PraxisAuril has responded to the UK government's R&D roadmap. The Roadmap sets out government objectives for R&D across Parliament (2024-25) alongside the previously announced £22 million budget. PrA members need to understand how these will affect knowledge exchange, not least because there are intentions to create a new funding agency (based on the USA's ARPA) and shake up research funding structures more generally.

​​​​​​​The KE Awards (previously known as the ‘Impact Awards’) is an initiative organised by PraxisAuril, the UK’s world-leading professional association for Knowledge Exchange (KE) practitioners. The Awards celebrate the contribution of KE professionals to generating societal and economic impact from research.   Celebrating the impact of our research base regionally, nationally and internationally is more relevant than ever today, as UK universities and research organisations mobilise incredible activities and projects to fight the COVID-19 crisis. Some of these initiatives are represented among the finalists below.  Sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), an organisation working in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish, the KE Awards will recognise and celebrate the people behind outstanding KE achievements, in all areas of research. Celebrating the impact of our research base regionally, nationally and internationally is more relevant than ever today, as UK universities and research organisations mobilise incredible activities and projects to fight the COVID-19 crisis. Some of these initiatives are represented among the finalists below. 

Dear PraxisAuril Friends and Colleagues, It will, I expect, come as little surprise to you that the PraxisAuril Board has agreed that given the current COVID-19 situation, we will be postponing the PraxisAuril Conference until next year.

PraxisAuril will support a new award for the ‘Most effective initiative from a KTP Office’ in this year’s KTP Best of the Best Awards, using its established expertise to identify the approach that produces the best innovation or impact.

Research England has released a report detailing decisions and next steps for the KEF following last year’s consultation and pilot exercises. PraxisAuril is pleased to see that comments and contributions from universities, businesses and other sector stakeholders – including many PraxisAuril members – have been taken into account in the final metrics, narrative information, clusters, eligibility and timelines.

2019 has already been a fantastic year for PraxisAuril. With 173 member organisations and over 5000 people feeding into the PraxisAuril community, it has become the world’s biggest KE organisation outside of the US. With its growing pool of almost 400 volunteers, PraxisAuril continues to create and deliver world-leading training courses and has trained around 600 people in the UK, in this year alone. This annual report is summary of all that we have achieved together in the past 12 months.

North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium Ltd (NEUPC) is one of six UK Higher Education purchasing consortia established to deliver and manage a wide range of collaborative framework agreements designed to maximise third party expenditure within the higher education sector. The NEUPC will be holding an event for its HE consortia members to meet with suppliers in the Professional Services category group. The NEUPC will be holding an event for its HE consortia members to meet with suppliers in the Professional Services category group.

A new and simple blood test has been found to efficiently and accurately detect the presence of aggressive prostate cancer, according to research by Queen Mary University of London. In combination with the current prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, the new test could help men avoid unnecessary and invasive biopsies, over-diagnosis and over-treatment.

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have created an antimicrobial coating for steel surfaces which has proven to rapidly kill bacteria that cause some of the most common hospital-acquired infections.  Developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham, patented by University of Birmingham Enterprise, and to be commercialised by a new company NitroPep, the coating – also called NitroPep - has been heralded as a new tool in the fight against the spread of infection.

Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Wales have higher levels of confidence than their UK counterparts, despite challenging business conditions and increasing uncertainty of UK and global economic prospects, according to the first annual report published by Economic Intelligence Wales (EIW) today. The new research unit is a collaboration between Cardiff Business School, the Office for National Statistics and the Development Bank of Wales, created to monitor the activity of Welsh SMEs, factors affecting their development and the progress of the regional economy.