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Institutional Context
Summary
UCL is a large, comprehensive, research-intensive university regularly ranking in the global top 10. Its interdisciplinary approach and breadth of subject areas gives fresh perspective, developing solutions to some of the world’s most complex challenges. The main campus, in London’s Bloomsbury district, is well placed to foster collaboration and partnerships with leading research, cultural and healthcare institutions and knowledge-based companies. The new campus, UCL East, is part of East Bank, the developing cultural and education district on the Olympic Park.
Knowledge exchange is core to UCL’s mission, championed by a dedicated Vice-Provost (Enterprise) who focuses on creating an environment that enables researchers to deliver profound societal and economic benefits to the world outside the University.
Institutional context
UCL is a large, comprehensive, research-intensive university, ranked 10th globally. In 2018-19 UCL was the second-largest English university by staff (~13,000 FTE), and third-largest by research income (£481m). UCL’s mission is to be ‘engaged with the wider world and committed to changing it for the better’. The UCL KE strategy ‘Transforming knowledge and ideas into action’ builds upon the UCL Strategy 2034 positioning UCL as ‘Accessible and publicly engaged’ and ‘Addressing global challenges’.
UCL’s main campus is in London’s Bloomsbury, part of the vibrant Knowledge Quarter, a consortium of academic, cultural, research and media organisations including the British Library, British Museum, Francis Crick Institute, GSK, Google and Facebook.
UCL East, UCL’s new campus, sits within East Bank, the growing cultural and education district on the QE Olympic Park, alongside organisations including the BBC, Sadler’s Wells, and the V&A. This campus focuses on local engagement and partnerships, alongside world-class research and teaching. An early success is the East London Inclusive Enterprise Zone (ELIEZ), supporting entrepreneurs, business leaders and design thinkers who are disabled or whose work focuses on disabled people.
UCL KE, led by the Vice-Provost (Enterprise), is responsible for creating an environment that supports a full spectrum of KE activities, crossing all academic disciplines, engaging both students and staff.
Specialist teams support strategic innovation partnerships and networks, innovation policy, funding for KE, consultancy, commercialisation and social enterprise, entrepreneurship, public engagement and public policy - creating a comprehensive support environment.
UCL works with the broadest range of innovation partners to deliver its KE strategy. From leading cultural organisations and local authorities to multinational companies, UCL works alongside others deploying its expertise and networks to create real economic and societal benefit.
UCL celebrates the variety of KE activity it undertakes. Its 267 spin-outs and graduate start-ups in 2018-19 had turnover >£110m, received investment of £639m, and employed 3,000 people. At the same time, UCL created an investment fund for social enterprises, and during the COVID pandemic issued >1,900 licenses without charge in 105 countries for the UCL Ventura CPAP breathing aid. UCL influences public policy, for example leveraging digital technologies for more effective government, and builds government capacity through bespoke training, for instance, training FCO diplomats in economics.
Students are supported to develop an entrepreneurial mind-set, many creating exciting businesses such as Musemio, allowing children to explore history and arts in virtual reality.
KE is delivered across all academic disciplines, but clinical medicine, accounting for around half of UCL’s research by value, is of particular national importance. UCL sits within the complex London network of healthcare organisations, alongside multiple NHS Trusts, learned societies, and research institutes plus large patient populations. UCL works through formal collaborations such as UCL Partners and informal networks. The Translational Research Office and UCLB provide specialist support and access to funding. Companies emerging in this area include Autolus Therapeutics which, in 2018, raised $160m in an IPO on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.
For further information, please send queries to innovationpolicy@ucl.ac.uk
Local Growth and Regeneration
Summary of approach
As a large, multidisciplinary institution with a staff and student population of >55,000, UCL’s economic impacts on local businesses and social activities is substantial, and with world-leading research, UCL’s impact goes further, delivering significant societal and economic results through local knowledge exchange.
UCL has several strategies covering local partnerships and innovation outputs with local impact. Through relationships with governance bodies and non-profits, UCL’s work addresses and informs local societal concerns, whilst extensive work with the NHS and healthcare bodies further impacts on health and wellbeing.
Contributing to economic growth, UCL supports SMEs and start-ups, encouraging both internal and local businesses with programmes specifically geared to develop entrepreneurial skills and networking.
Aspect 1: Strategy
Through UCL 2034, UCL aspires to be ‘London’s Global University’ – contributing to London’s economic and social landscapes whilst seeking global impact. The ambition to ‘enhance creation of societal and economic value from our research and innovation and contribute to the intellectual life of London’ speaks to utilising our position to attract investment in London and strengthening alliances with business, industry, local government, schools and not-for-profits.
UCL’s Bloomsbury campus sits within the London Borough of Camden (LB Camden), whilst UCL East is in development on the Olympic Park, at the intersection of four east London boroughs. These two locations define UCL’s locality, although our outputs regularly go beyond the area to address regional, national and international issues.
To support UCL 2034, UCL’s ambition for supporting and working with London is articulated in several internal strategies.
The London Framework, developed by the recently appointed Pro-Vice-Provost for London (2019), seeks to ‘create purpose, connect people and unite place’ with a London Advisory Group appointed to implement the framework across UCL.
The Innovation and Enterprise Strategy commits to ‘use our position in London to benefit London, the UK and the wider world,’ encouraging enterprise within London, developing relationships with local businesses and impacting policy and decision-making for London, the beyond.
UCL East is part of ongoing regeneration and development of higher-deprivation boroughs, working to make the institution accessible and enable grassroots knowledge exchange within the community. The design of the campus includes spaces for local communities to engage in various ways.
UCL is closely involved in other organisations across London who are further seeking to achieve local growth and development across the city.
UCL is developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with LB Camden, strategically drawing together activities into a framework with shared goals and ways of working on local issues including climate change, homelessness and inequality through collaborative bids, KE and student placements.
This partnership will inform joint action and is a model UCL intends to replicate with other boroughs to enhance local partnerships further.UCL has contributed to the Greater London Authority (GLA) London Plan, with staff seconded to the GLA to input into the development process. UCL’s strategies have been reviewed for opportunities to align with the London Plan.
UCL chairs the Knowledge Quarter (KQ), a consortium of >100 organisations engaged in knowledge creation and dissemination around Kings Cross. KQ has strengths in life sciences, AI and machine learning, creating a hub of excellence on UCL’s doorstep and bringing regeneration of the King’s Cross area.
East Bank, the location of UCL East, aims to be a ‘new powerhouse for innovation, creativity and learning’ and is a crucial element of the London 2012 regeneration legacy. With UCL East’s strategic aims reflecting the goals of the East Bank, our activity is reinforcing the social capital of the area, focusing on justice, education and cultural growth.
To better understand local needs, UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity, with partners, created a London Prosperity Index, measuring prosperity as defined by local communities. The index prioritises local voices and provides a framework for action.
Aspect 2: Activity
UCL fosters a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, promoting local growth through economic outputs, social investment and development in wide-ranging activities carried out across the institution.
UCLB supports academics in taking their discoveries to market, generating spin-outs and providing entrepreneurial advice. Staff spin-outs typically remain locally, in 2018-19 generating £52m turnover and raising £579m in external investments.
UCL, through its Global Innovation team, supports SMEs looking internationally, connecting them with advisors in >60 countries, advising on various funding sources and promoting events including Pitchfest, an investor pitching and networking event.
SPERO, our PhD entrepreneurial training programme, delivers entrepreneurship training and has trained almost 10% of our PhD students in the first 18 months of delivery.
BaseKX, a start-up incubation space supported by UCL and LB Camden, offers entrepreneurial support for students and local residents in the Hatchery, as well as providing entrepreneurial event space. In 2019-20, BaseKX supported:
83 graduate start-ups, generating £956,551 revenue, raising £2.36m of external investment, and creating >200 new jobs.
17 community events, including First Mondays, a public-facing entrepreneurship networking event with UCL alumni and entrepreneurs as speakers.
UCL start-ups and spin-outs often address societal challenges, bringing benefits not just economically, but through improvements in health, wellbeing and quality of life that are critical to local growth and development.
Sustainability and the Environment
Environmental factors, increasingly linked with social and health concerns, are vital in supporting local growth and wellbeing and LB Camden and UCL’s partnering has led to several initiatives to improve the local environment.
The Camden Clean Air Partnership identified stakeholders across the borough to develop an Air Quality Plan, whilst Geography academics led LB Camden’s Citizen Assembly on Climate Action, bringing together diverse groups to develop plans for how the borough should respond to the climate crisis.
Through the MOU, we are pursuing sustainable procurement, whilst LB Camden is partnering with UCL’s Energy Institute and Gamma Energy to create a smart energy grid for renewables, with scope to reduce Camden’s carbon footprint considerably.
UCL is a founding member of CleanTech London, a new partnership supporting cleantech businesses across London scale-up, innovate and commercialise their activities.
Healthcare
UCL’s work on healthcare, frequently in partnership with the NHS, benefits London, providing employment whilst improving health and social care, and the wider UK, with the breadth of the work carried out impacting people from varying backgrounds and differing needs.
UCLPartners is a London-based health science partnership coordinated by UCL’s Vice-Provost (Health) between the NHS, partner hospitals, Department of Health and >40 HEIs. It facilitates healthcare improvements through clinical and academic outputs, giving partners access to over 6m NHS patients and enabling world-leading clinical studies. Research is often patient-led, focussing on residents and their healthcare needs.
A UCL MedTech start-up, Oslr, developed through the Hatchery, uses technology to enable bedside medical teaching. Oslr has received £70,000 grants, co-funded by Innovate UK’s Digital Health Tech Catalyst and a JISC accelerator award. Of their Hatchery experience, they said: ‘Working amongst fellow entrepreneurial enterprises with full business support has given us a base to develop a professional platform and successfully apply for the Innovate UK grant.’
UCL’s contributions to research during COVID-19 have aided scientific and social knowledge of the virus, informing and equipping decision-makers and practitioners to benefit people locally, across the UK and further afield.
UCL staff and students responded both on the frontline, with clinical staff and graduating medical students working in partner hospitals, and volunteering through National Health Supporters to alleviate the pressures on medical staff.
UCL Ventura, an adapted breathing machine (CPAP) that reduces the need for ventilators, was developed in collaboration with Mercedes-Formula1. The designs are online with a free license and, to date, the machines are in use in >100 NHS hospitals, with requests from >100 countries and 30 teams manufacturing them across five continents.
UCL Healthcare Engineering adapted existing ventilators for NHS use, whilst Mechanical Engineering identified ways to increase the rate of production of ventilators.
UCL’s Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose launched a Renewal Commission with LB Camden to spark policy and practical solutions to level-up inequalities exposed by COVID-19.
UCL’s academics regularly advise government, with four academics sitting on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), and seven across the broader COVID-19 advisory groups.
Disability and Assistive Technology
The Global Disability Innovation (GDI) Hub explores inclusive design, assistive technologies, and participation in culture as an East Bank collaboration. Originally London-focussed, in securing grants from FCDO, the project has gone from a local initiative to delivering global impact.
The AT2030 programme improves access to Assistive Technology, reviewing manufacturing processes, evaluating technology economics, supporting emerging innovations and facilitating community-led activity.
UCL’s East London Inclusive Enterprise Zone creates a space for disabled entrepreneurs, designers and disability-focused start-ups to support and bring together thought-leaders, encouraging a productive, self-sufficient ecosystem with support from UCL.
Schooling and Development
UCL’s Institute of Education trains >1,500 UK teachers annually, providing world-leading contributions to education. KE activities add to this, with start-ups and engagement in local schools occurring across the faculties and professional services:
in2scienceUK, a non-profit founded by a UCL PhD graduate, gives disadvantaged students insight into STEM subjects. Since being awarded £10,000 and BaseKX support, the organisation has engaged with >650 students and 100 UK research departments to promote STEM, encouraging social mobility and diversity across the subjects.
The UCL School Governor Network supports and trains staff volunteering as school governors, aiming to increase the effectiveness and confidence of governors whilst improving access to ground-breaking UCL Institute of Education research for local schools.
Investing social capital in our local community
UCL’s social capital contributions across London occur when UCL staff and students provide their knowledge and experience to improve the local environment and share benefits of UCL’s assets beyond the institutional walls.
The Centre for Access to Justice and Integrated Legal Advice Clinic in Stratford offers legal assistance to those struggling to access alternative routes. The Clinic addresses social welfare issues in east London, with law students supporting clients pro bono through legal proceedings, under supervision from experienced solicitors.
The Vice-Provost (Enterprise) sits on Camden Business Board, which convenes local businesses to influence policy and activity across the borough, and on the London Economic Action Partnership Board as the only London university representative.
Aspect 3: Results
UCL 2034 sets the tone for UCL’s aspirations as ‘London’s Global University’, measured through KPIs and an annual review of progress. Additional strategies address UCL’s intentions for local impact with attention distributed between economic benefits and effects, and social and wellbeing improvements on the area.
Economically, UCL works through partnerships to amplify its impact, contributing rising employment numbers within the areas it operates, and creating an attractive environment for external businesses to invest.
In 2018-19, UCL reported that it had 267 active staff spin-outs and graduate start-ups, with 3,000 staff employed (FTE). The provision of jobs, predominantly remaining in the London area, provides opportunities for both local and regional employees to benefit from.
The Knowledge Quarter (KQ) Science and Innovation Audit (SIA), sponsored by BEIS, mapped King Cross’ economic strengths in five areas with UCL leading in three of the subjects, and a significant contributor in the remaining two. The KQ has seen substantial employment growth in recent years, and impact is evaluated within the Audit.
The relationship with LB Camden is impacting areas surrounding UCL, with improvements in air pollution and traffic control in the area already demonstrating the benefits of the relationship.
The MOU model for local collaboration is being considered as a mechanism for working effectively with other local boroughs.
Cross-pollination of ideas with the GLA through secondments into the Mayor’s Office has fed into the new London Plan, setting the strategic direction for London in the coming years.
UCL’s contribution to the improvement of quality of life across Camden and, increasingly, east London is measurable through the impacts made in a range of disciplines.
Partnerships with North London hospitals and ongoing research with health organisations facilitate health improvements across the borough. Through patient research, many people benefit from advances in healthcare and involvement in patient-led research.
In response to a LB Camden request, UCL implemented a pro bono Rapid Evaluation and Learning Service (REALs), pairing of LB Camden staff evaluating modified (due to COVID-19) services with UCL volunteers with relevant expertise. Implementing REALs rapidly, UCL mobilised staff to effectively contribute to local needs.
Further research across other disciplines in UCL have contributed to the local area from working with TfL improving transport, to working with housing associations on social housing design to enhance the quality of living for those reliant on provided services.
UCL East seeks to open its doors for public engagement and develop accessible ways to engage with research and creative outputs for residents, as well as providing local jobs. Across East Bank, UCL and partners are working with organisations established in the area to encourage employment growth, and attractiveness of the region for further development, and realising the regeneration legacy of the 2012 Olympics.
For further information, please send queries to innovationpolicy@ucl.ac.uk
Public & Community Engagement
Summary of approach
UCL is a large, comprehensive, research-intensive University regularly ranking in the global top 10.
In its strategy, UCL 2034, UCL commits to being ‘Accessible and publicly engaged’, valuing collaboration, partnership and dialogue with the local community.
The UCL Public Engagement Unit established in 2008, provides leadership, training, funding, advice and support across UCL – supporting academic colleagues to embed public engagement in research and educational activities across the full range of academic disciplines.
UCL also has many locally delivered initiatives, relying on specialist knowledge for identifying relevant communities and public groups, making our engagement extremely broad and varied.
A new Public and Community Engagement Strategy (2020-2027) builds on provision over the past decade, further embedding engagement within UCL.
Aspect 1: Strategy
UCL’s strategy, UCL 2034, commits to being ‘accessible and publicly engaged,’ encouraging dialogue with ‘society and our local community,’ being ‘permeable to, and interactive with, the public,’ and ‘to enhance our leadership position in public engagement.’ Public engagement (PE) is critical to UCL achieving these goals, enabling greater understanding and dissemination of research, addressing societal needs, and improving routes to inform and influence public discourse.
UCL’s new Public and Community Engagement Strategy (PCES) sets out a vision ‘to be the global leader in socially responsible engagement practice and research’ aiming to ‘ensure communities – internal and external – feel listened to, valued and represented.’ UCL has made significant progress through >10 years of PE activity, with the new PCES addressing areas where UCL has opportunity to improve.
PE is further integrated into other major UCL strategies.
UCL’s Research Strategy aims to ‘Cross Boundaries to increase engagement’, ‘deliver impact for public benefit,’ and take research ‘beyond traditional boundaries,’ pioneering PE through co-production, co-design, use of citizen science and patient involvement in research, ensuring reciprocal engagement to enrich research further.
UCL’s Innovation and Enterprise strategy seeks to ‘transform knowledge and ideas into action;’ sharing of knowledge beyond the institutional boundaries. The strategy empowers individuals and communities developing partnerships with community and third-sector organisations.
At UCL East, PE is a core ambition, with an open, accessible and locally engaged campus, including spaces for local communities, and further activity, funding initiatives and research grants to encourage PE. UCL has been growing relationships with groups in the surrounding boroughs and identifying areas for working together.
With COVID-19, UCL is increasingly engaging digitally, especially with harder-to-reach individuals. This aim is articulated in the PCES and UCL is already trialling innovative, digital ways to interact.
UCL’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU) provides professional support, and also allocates project funding on a competitive basis through schemes such as the Beacon Bursaries.
The identification of particular communities or public groups to engage with is typically informed by dialogue with the relevant academic communities, which are then supported to create meaningful ways of engaging through expert PE support.
Aspect 2: Support
The PEU is a unique dedicated, multidisciplinary team responsible for the PCES, overseeing centrally coordinated PE activity, and supporting Faculties in their PE. Those involved in PE at UCL support activity through:
Training: Delivering programmes for staff and students, covering project development, theoretical and practical skills in conducting PE-based research, presentation of findings through Train and Engage and Find Your Voice (PGR), and Public Engagement: Skills and Practice (academics).
Funding: Providing funding including Beacon Bursaries for researchers engaging with external communities, Community Engagement Seed Funding for relationship building in east London, and Listen and Respond grants to address issues arising from COVID-19.
Networks: Building on the training, the Public Engagement Network (PEN) encourages staff and students to share best practice. Creating Connections supports academics working with London’s voluntary and social sectors. More targeted networks include the UCL East Engagement Network, and the School of Life and Medical Sciences Community of Engagers, a peer network for Patient and Public Involvement in research.
Academic Recognition: Recognising the contributions of academics in PE, the Academic Careers Framework includes PE as a specialist activity which contributes to promotion criteria.
The Provost’s Public Engagement Awards celebrate the work of staff, students and external partners in utilising engagement in research to expand insight.Physical Resources: Developing increasingly with public access considerations, the refurbished Bloomsbury Theatre aims to ‘bring London in,’ providing space for co-production and collaboration with external artists and specialists. UCL East’s campus has PE at the core, with public exhibitions, event spaces and cinema to support community interaction.
Aspect 3: Activity
Staff across UCL are encouraged to identify appropriate communities and innovate with engagement and knowledge exchange (KE) with these groups, resulting in wide-ranging approaches to KE through PE across the faculties.
Co-production of Research
Ensuring the needs and concerns of communities of interest is considered from the outset, setting the focus and objectives of research, resulting in directly relevant and valuable findings for participants.
UCL’s Centre for Co-Production in Health Research (CoPro) is a co-production community of researchers, patients, carers and practitioners with funding provided for co-produced research. The Centre involved the public at formation, with co-creation of the principles and Centre objectives.
Engineering Exchange (EngEx) collaborates with community groups, practitioners and academics, particularly from the Faculties of Engineering and the Built Environment. EngEx focusses on two-way engagement, ensuring communities benefit from world-leading research outputs, whilst researchers better understand problems facing local communities.
Patterns of Perception brought researchers from the Institute of Neurology together with individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD), English National Ballet, Central St Martins and an artist, examining methods to improve perceptions of living with PD and inform approaches in clinical and neuroscientific research. The research empowered individuals to communicate their experiences, informed neurology research and led to a public exhibition of the findings.
Engaging non-profits and community groups locally
Working with non-profits aids UCL in engaging with organisations and beneficiaries, whilst providing researchers with a wealth of subject-area experts, enabling academics to deepen their knowledge, whilst conducting relevant research for their beneficiaries.
Evaluation Exchange is responding to an identified need for improved evaluation of charities local to UCL East. The Exchange pairs researchers with non-profits, providing training and support for evaluations, enabling capacity building and encouraging two-way learning. The programme improved organisational evaluation capacity and, consequently, delivery of services and is now being implemented in Camden.
UCL Partner Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) promote public and patient involvement (PPI) in research, offering training, grants and consultancy to aid the design, development and delivery of PPI research. From 2017-19, UCLH’s BRC trained 556 researchers through 61 workshops and funded £23,750 to 25 PPI research projects.
Listen and Respond arose from local non-profit needs following COVID-19, with UCL’s PEU and the Volunteering Service connecting organisations with staff and students to identify COVID-19 impacts, develop virtual engagement tools, assist with networking and capacity building and aid rapid evaluation of services. Hackathons further encouraged rapid solution development for local non-profits, with 100 students ‘hacking’ problems alongside the organisations, with £1,000 grants given to implement the proposed solution.
Improving communication between the public and UCL
In engaging the public in KE, UCL has worked to communicate and share research in several ways, engaging communities with the development of messaging to make it accessible and approachable to wide-ranging audiences.
Trellis Programme, supported by the EPSRC, brings science and engineering researchers and artists together to create installations around UCL East. In 2019 a free exhibition of created sculptures, drawings and films communicated UCL research in accessible and engaging ways.
#MadeAtUCL showcases 100 research stories across UCL, with shortlisting judged against criteria developed with local community input, and the public then invited to vote for their favourite (>20,000 votes cast).
Popular stories have been communicated through the #MadeAtUCL podcast and the It’s All Academic Festival, where attendees interacted with the research through micro-presentations and hands-on activities.
Developing student skills in PE
Engaging students in PE during their studies has led to increased interactions with charities and local organisations for KE and sharing of ideas:
Community Engaged Learning Service (CELS) trains and supports staff in developing experiential learning, where students collaborate with external partners to understand and address real-world challenges.
For example, 40 MA Applied Linguistics students worked with foreign language schools to highlight benefits of child bilingualism. Conversations with teachers and caregivers gave insight into the topic, enabling students to create resources for teachers to use and develop for teaching.Community Research Initiative for Students (CRIS) pairs Masters students with non-profits to write community-focussed dissertations. Students gain non-profit experience, whilst the organisation receives research on their activities or outcomes. A new programme, interest has been growing since launch, and a new digital format for 2020-21 will ensure ongoing engagement.
Creating spaces for the public to learn and engage
UCL creates spaces enabling staff, students and the public to come together to learn and engage in open and accessible ways. This exchange of experiences and perspectives can develop a deeper understanding of different communities.
UCL works with local companies and government providing short courses and CPD to meet the needs of the population. In total, we have taught >55,500 learner days of CPD.
Through our museums and galleries, UCL runs events for public interactions with the collections and exhibitions; ranging from stand-up comedy to murder mysteries and film nights, focused on an area of research. In 2018-19 UCL recorded over 800,000 attendees at lectures, performances and exhibitions.
Aspect 4: Results and learning
Institutionally, UCL 2034’s principle themes of being ‘accessible and publicly engaged’ and ‘addressing global challenges’ (which emphasises support for co-production of research) are monitored regularly and an annual review published.
For the central PEU, key outcomes are academic staff empowered and enabled to undertake PE, and projects facilitated through dedicated funding. The unit advised 500 academic staff in 2019-20, rising from 120 in 2017-18, and academics trained in PE runs at around 400/annum. The introduction of an online digital offer in 2019-20 has seen >400 modules completed. Eighty funding awards totalling £340k have been supported in the past three years.
Impacts on external communities and the public through projects and activities may be quantitative or qualitative. To develop the quality of evaluation, activity in the PEU is led by a Head of Evaluation, who equips the team with the skills to advise researchers on evaluation design and best practice.
Independent evaluation of large scale programmes (e.g. Trellis) is commissioned where resources allow. Programmes (networking, training, internal funding) are updated in light of evaluation findings. To improve the inclusivity and accessibility of the Beacon Bursary scheme, UCL actively encourages applications from those who are underrepresented in the sector and at UCL including, but not exclusive to, disabled, D/deaf and neurodiverse people, LGBTQ+ people, people from Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority backgrounds. We are trialling new measures to develop and support bursary applications from the Black academic community at UCL. We also ensure the learning is captured in our comprehensive toolkits and resources and evaluation forms a key module within our online PE training.
At Faculty level, HE-BCI data relevant to PE (event and exhibition attendees, academic PE time) is reviewed by Faculty Deans and senior Faculty staff annually, with data also submitted to University Council as part of the report against the KE strategy. In 2018-19 there were >8,000 attendees at public events and exhibitions, and >2,300 days of associated academic staff time reported, representing a significant commitment to PE activity across all Faculties.
Aspect 5: Acting on results
UCL has researched benchmarking PE in universities nationally and has conducted several studies to understand this.
UCL is working with the NCCPE to explore how institutions benchmark themselves against others conducting PE. The findings will be shared to contribute to sectoral good practice.
UCL received a UKRI–funded award, Strategic Support to Expedite Embedding Public Engagement with Research (SEE-PER) grant, examining how governance arrangements can support PE, sharing the findings and working to embed them into UCL’s structures.
Sharing PE research results is encouraged, with tools and mechanisms for enabling greater public interaction. Cross-UCL networks utilise communication of outcomes as a tool in ensuring internal improvement and feedback loops.
UCL Media utilise local, national and international media to communicate relevant research findings, whilst positioning experts to speak to policy and events on appropriate stages.
For example, ground-breaking research on the neurobiology of laughter had considerable PE, with a TED talk, featuring on BBC’s Horizon, podcasts, and national and international newspaper coverage, changing general awareness of laughter.The PEN provides a key feedback mechanism, as a platform to share best practise and network across the academic disciplines and the institution to enable greater breadth of experience.
Much of the learning from individual projects and initiatives is shared publicly in the form of case studies, often at a Faculty or Department level, in academic areas as diverse as Brain Sciences, Art History and Environmental Design and Engineering. Case studies are also used to celebrate and promote good practise as part of the Provost’s Public Engagement Awards.
For further information, please send queries to innovationpolicy@ucl.ac.uk