University of Sussex

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Institutional Context

Summary

The University of Sussex has had the conviction to challenge convention since its foundation in 1961. From the campus’ modernist architecture on the edge of a rural national park, to our progressive academics and creative professional services staff, to the inspiring students who choose to learn and live here, to the very tone of the institution and the nature of its conversations, through to the expressions of radicalism and critical thinking.

Sussex has a long tradition of experimentation and innovation that has made a real difference to the lives of many students, and those who benefit from our research and wider endeavours. We challenge conventional thinking and discourses, offering inspiring and creative ways to understand and solve global issues.

Institutional context

The University of Sussex is a leading research-intensive university located in Falmer near Brighton. Since our foundation we have developed a reputation for undertaking creative, interdisciplinary research as well as offering a high-quality education that equips our graduates with the skills for future success.

Our strategic vision Sussex 2025 reimagines the pioneering spirit of our past but does so for new times and a new generation. We want to build on our achievements and evolve as a connected university, dedicated to making a better world.

The Engage for Change strategy aims to embed the ethos and practice of external engagement across all of our activities. We have significant number of knowledge exchange activities across a range of disciplines from the sciences to the arts and humanities. We will continue to do this and bring benefits to society at large, the economy and to the many individuals who are part of our world including students who we will equip with the skills to be engaged global citizens.

We value research that has an impact outside academic circles as well as within the academy. Engagement and collaboration with businesses, policymakers, politicians, community organisations, and the wider public enriches our academic endeavours, and helps us make a difference to people’s daily lives.

Research at Sussex is contributing new knowledge, ideas and solutions, which is leading to real change in the world. Sussex’s Strategic Research Programmes bring together academics across disciplines to address some of the key challenges facing society. This collaborative approach, which builds on our pioneering heritage of interdisciplinarity, gives us creative opportunities to rethink old and emerging challenges in new ways.

As a signatory of the Civic University Agreement, Sussex is committed to doing even more to engage with our local community. We want to become more connected to, trusted, and respected by more external partners at local, regional, national and international levels.

Our global outlook enables us to be at the forefront of research influence worldwide. Sussex is number one in the world for development studies in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. The ground-breaking evidence and knowledge that Sussex and researchers in the Institute of Development Studies are generating in collaboration with partners globally is making a significant contribution to real-world problems such as disease, climate change, conflict and violence.

Responding to the impacts of Covid-19 has strengthened our existing partnerships with local councils and health bodies. From practical support, to research that seeks to understand the pandemic, our approach to this global challenge has been shaped by our institutional values of kindness, collaboration, courage, inclusivity and integrity.

We have a track record of collaborating with a range of partners to help businesses grow and develop. Research and development partnerships enable organisations to access our research expertise, attract investment and deliver innovative solutions to real-world problems.

As shown by our current activities and our strategic vision for the future, the University of Sussex recognises the important role it plays in helping to shape a better world.

Local Growth and Regeneration

Summary of approach

In 2018 Sussex made a commitment to opening up its R&D, student capabilities and analytical capacities to local companies and economic planners. Since then, Sussex has built a wide range of business partnerships – with key themes being the emerging technologies around Gatwick Airport; the health and social care economy throughout Sussex; and the wave of digital-creative innovation in Brighton. The University’s website now invites businesses to collaborate and signposts them to the right support. Pent-up internal demand to create spin-outs and attract private investment has been addressed and academics now have clearer pathways to commercialise their research. Early stage collaborations are better supported and public sector funds have been won to extend Sussex’s offer to companies across the region.

Aspect 1: Strategy

‘Sussex 2025’: a new focus on driving innovation and local growth

In 2018 Sussex adopted a new strategic vision “Sussex 2025”, signalling a change in our approach to regional business and economic engagement (https://www.sussex.ac.uk/strategy/). A stock-take of the University’s regional economic impact in the preceding year (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/44319) demonstrated the positive impact of the University in terms of employment, procurement and hosting students. However, it also highlighted opportunity to harness the University’s R&D capabilities to drive regional economic competitiveness and to enhance the career pathways of the 40% of graduate alumni who remained local. This led to the adoption of a corporate Business Engagement Strategy as part of the Sussex 2025 initiative. The Strategy sets a new focus on the University’s role as a regional economic ‘anchor’ and on making a contribution to the economic competitiveness of the region - as a complement to the enduring focus on building its academic research reputation. The economic local governance architecture (see maps below) has channelled how the University has developed this role.

Our regional economic geography

The University is situated on the city fringe of Brighton & Hove, at the southern end of the London-Gatwick-Brighton corridor. As such, the University forms an integral part of the Greater Brighton city region and Coast-to-Capital LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership). However, the campus also straddles the border with South East LEP (SELEP) in East Sussex. This intersecting economic architecture has set the functional geography for the focus of the University’s regional business engagement.

The Greater Brighton city-region (in green) in context of the wider regional economic ‘reach’ by the University (in red) which also straddles South East LEP through East Sussex.

The local area partnerships within the Coast-to-Capital LEP area with which the University works.

Strategic priorities set in partnership

Since setting a new focus on regional economic and business engagement, Sussex has worked closely with the relevant stakeholders to better understand and co-design priorities for intervention. For example, the University evaluated the former LEP Strategic Economic Plans (https://www.coast2capital.org.uk/269-strategic-economic-plan-gatwick-360.html; https://www.southeastlep.com/our-strategy/strategic-economic-plan-2014/) and made a strong contribution to the evidence base and analysis for the development of both LEPs’ Local Industrial Strategies and the Greater Brighton Strategic Priorities (https://greaterbrighton.com/our-priorities/). The Vice Chancellor has played an active role on the boards of Coast-to-Capital LEP, Greater Brighton Economic Partnership and the City Management Board, as has the new Director for Innovation & Business Partnerships for Team East Sussex (the federated board of SELEP), the Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership and the East Sussex Environment Board.

The University is also now an active member of regional business networks covering the areas illustrated above (such as the Chambers of Commerce for Brighton & Hove and the rest of Sussex; Gatwick Diamond Business) as well as sector-specific networks such as Wired Sussex (for digital SMEs) and the Creative Coast.

Close engagement with the economic stewardship of the region combined with strengthened links to individual business have enabled the University to better match its R&D and skills offer to the needs and priorities across the region. This has improved our traction in building the economy of our ‘place’ and on promoting the University’s inter-disciplinary R&D portfolio and student opportunities.

Aspect 2: Activity

Boosting local economic strengths

Developing a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the regional economy over the last 18 months has enabled us to map our R&D capabilities and student focus much more effectively onto the following areas of potential place-based growth:

Enlarging the Gatwick ‘halo’: Sussex has sought to extend the technological advancement of some of the companies surrounding the tenth busiest EU airport. This has included the med-tech sector (Elekta and Varian - global med-tech manufacturers based next to Gatwick), security management and data analytics and predictive modelling.
Innovating in South Coast health, biotechnology & social care: New partnerships have been forged with GalaxoSmithKline in Worthing, linking into the University’s Drug Discovery Centre and Medical School. Six out of Sussex’s 14 live spin-outs are in the biotech and medtech sectors, attracting continued investment to the region. This has accompanied the trialling of innovative new public sector approaches to integrated health and social care within Brighton & Hove, building on the University’s social work and psychology research, coupled with the challenge-led opportunities arising from some of the UK’s highest concentrations of older residents found within East and West Sussex.
Driving digital, creative Brighton: Communications, creative and digital technology propositions have been targeted to Brighton & Hove’s digital SMEs, building on the 5G testbed and the significant creative economy in Brighton, which generated in excess of £1.5bn in turnover in 2019. These have complemented collaborations with the fintech sector clustered around the American Express EU headquarters and Legal & General in the city centre.

The various projects initiated under the above headings have embedded long-term partnerships with some of the region’s highest value-generating companies and public sector service providers. They have resulted in new graduate career paths and R&D collaborations - either directly funded by the partners or through collaborative public sector grants and strengthened multidisciplinary collaborations across the University.

These activities have been complemented by the ongoing business support delivered from the University’s Innovation Centres (on campus and at Croydon) – not just to the 60 innovative SMEs they host but also more widely to companies across the region. Examples include some 40 consultancy projects per quarter and most recently a COVID webinar series attended by hundreds of local businesses leaders. Sussex plans to expand this successful model of support for SME growth to include third Innovation Centre in central Brighton.

Strengthened University capacity

Boosting local economic strengths in the ways outlined above has been achieved largely through the University’s significant investment in new central teams to:

Translate the University’s innovation, expertise and skills into attractive business offers
Drive up student enterprise and offer student-led problem-solving services to local companies
Work with key regional economic agencies to align goals and investment synergies
Diversify and expand the University’s research income and networks

Growing a more business-friendly University environment

To create a more enabling environment to accelerate R&D business collaboration and student engagement over the last 18 months, the University has also:

Created new University website pages with single portal for all external business enquiries and showcase the University’s innovation offer, including its IP for licence and its spin-outs for investment: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/collaborate/
Launched five new spin-out companies, unleashing latent potential to drive innovation and investment propositions into the regional economy - in contrast to only nine spin-outs established in the preceding 20 years
Harnessed the Sussex Innovation Centre (a business incubator and wholly owned University subsidiary) to the University’s agenda for driving innovation and local growth
Set up a “COVID response” programme, using the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) to facilitate early stage R&D collaborations with local businesses challenged by COVID ‘lockdown’
Developed collaborative propositions with the University of Brighton for a seamless offer to SMEs across the region, drawing on the combined capabilities of both universities
Secured new local growth public investment to expand R&D business support in West Sussex (through European Regional Development Funds) and to upgrade the University’s Innovation Centre (through the Getting Building Fund) in order to attract new SMEs onto the University campus
Established the first of a future portfolio of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships - with a local global security gates company based near Gatwick to develop a machine learning and artificial intelligence driven people detection system, aiming to increase the company’s profitability by some £2m per annum
Developed ‘Service Learning Pilots’ to connect students (who are supported and supervised by academic experts) with local companies to help them overcome their business challenges
Initiated a substantial HEIF programme for every School in the University to enable them to explore the full potential of business collaboration and research commercialisation.

Aspect 3: Results

Solid external partnerships

It is relatively early days in the pursuit of the strategic local growth R&D priorities set out above, so substantive transformation in these areas of the regional economy as a result of University collaboration is not yet apparent. However, the new initiatives forged are already yielding some early promising results in terms of new R&D contracts and research sponsorship.

In the area of south coast health care, collaborations with GalaxoSmithKline are multiplying since initial links were established. In relation to digital Brighton, a recent city-wide, multi-partnership, multi-million pound bid to DCMS led by the University to develop and trial 5G smart localisation and social distancing solutions in work places, educational establishments, shopping areas and care homes received resounding top-level support from a multitude of corporate partners across the city region. Whilst the Government’s final decision was ultimately disappointing, the networks and R&D interests opened up through the development of the proposal already have their own momentum.

The University’s internal reforms are also starting to make an impact:

The University’s new ‘collaborate’ webpages signposting a single-entry point for businesses to the University (https://www.sussex.ac.uk/collaborate/) have already driven new business relationships, particularly during the COVID pandemic ‘lockdown’, as well as generated internal academic interest in external engagement
Of the new spin-outs launched over the last 18 months, four out of the five immediately secured private investment and one is now employing 15 advanced engineers. This surge of spin-outs has also attracted interest from Brighton-based investors who are keen to support their local university but who had never before invested in Sussex spin-outs.
Working more closely with the University of Brighton has led to a joint award of £400,000 ERDF (European Regional Development Funds) to offer collaborative R&D services to SMEs across West Sussex. This followed an initial joint Enterprise Zone bid, which although unsuccessful, prompted discussions about how the combined R&D offers of both universities might be further integrated.
A new south coast universities BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership has generated interest from 40 companies who are investing in collaborative training for PhD students across the wider region.
The ‘COVID response’ HEIF programme supported 20 new initiatives with local businesses, including:

40 COVID-related ‘virtual’ student internships with SMEs, with demand for many more
Design of a new COVID ‘dashboard’, developed and trialled for local public authorities – leading to their funding of a one year post-doctoral researcher to refine the product
‘COVID-proof’ innovation partnerships forged with two with local companies, of which one is likely to lead to a collaborative bid to Innovate UK
Development of a new British Standards Institute certified, re-usable PVC visor for distribution to local NHS and social care facilities, which will be taken forward as a social enterprise to provide low-cost visors to local SMEs and NGOs
Prototyping of a new re-usable fabric surgical-grade face mask in collaboration with the NHS.

These are a few of examples of how the University is steadily building a reputation as a regional innovation leader. Consequently, the new Coast-to-Capital LEP Economic Recovery Plan / Local Industrial Strategy is set to feature the knowledge economy generated by Brighton’s two higher education institutions much more prominently than was ever profiled in the former Strategic Economic Plan. Similarly, in relation to SELEP, the University’s £200,000 bid to the fiercely competitive ‘Getting Building Fund’ programme was recently prioritised by Team East Sussex, in recognition of the value of its business incubation facilities and links to the University’s research base.

Celebrating success

Individual successes for the University in driving local growth have been press-released regularly over the last 18 months and incorporated into the Vice Chancellor’s internal addresses. This has driven greater internal engagement in the University’s enterprise agenda and further external interest in the University’s local offer. Looking forward, Sussex has programmed a suite of articles and interviews in local business publications throughout the next year to showcase the range and diversity of potential R&D-based collaborations and student outreach projects, inviting companies to get in touch.

Public & Community Engagement

Summary of approach

We aim to embed the ethos and practice of external engagement across all academic schools and activities. Our ambition is to become connected to and trusted by external partners at local, regional, national and international levels. We believe diverse individuals and groups will feel more connected with the University and will benefit, as we will too, from greater access, interaction and knowledge exchange.

We will be seen as listening and acting in the local and regional interest, working with public bodies, charities and civic society to find solutions to economic, social and cultural challenges. As co-partners in local communities – we will make a difference to people’s daily lives and help tackle big and small issues.

Aspect 1: Strategy

The University of Sussex has embedded public and community engagement as a strategic priority within one of its core pillars ‘Engage for Change’ in the University’s Sussex 2025 strategic framework. https://www.sussex.ac.uk/strategy/

Following the work of the Civic University Commission, the University is committed to creating a Civic University Agreement and will collaborate with partners to develop this further. To inform the development of our Agreement we are currently undertaking a survey of residents in the region. Additionally we have undertaken a mapping exercise across the University which has shown where we have established relationships with the public and third sectors, civic society, anchor institution, politicians and business.

The University has demonstrated our commitment to public engagement as a signatory to the NCCPE manifesto on Public Engagement. Academics and professional services staff are involved in these activities, and postdoctoral fellows, postgraduates and undergraduate students also run projects and take part in knowledge exchange activities. https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/support-engagement/strategy-and-planning/manifesto-public-engagement/manifesto-signatories

The University was a founding member of the Brighton & Hove chapter of Citizens UK. The institution’s Provost led the support and creation of the Chapter and has encouraged staff and students to participate in its activities. By working with the Chapter and the local community, we have been able to address concerns and support campaigns in the region. https://www.citizensuk.org/brighton_hove

Speaking to our ethos and recognising our strategic priorities of highlighting the work of underrepresented groups in science and academia, the University has taken an active role in promoting their work at Sussex. An example of this is the University’s hosting of an annual Soapbox Science event on Brighton Pier. This innovative public outreach platform promotes women scientists and their research and seeks to inspire the next generation of scientists. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/47566

The Engage for Change pillar in the University’s strategic framework clearly sets out the aim to proactively engage with our local community. Feedback from staff attending Brighton and Hove City Council Local Action Teams (LATS), the large number of local residents attending cultural events at the Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts and additional interactions with our local community at external events, indicated a desire among residents to understand the research, and areas of the University estate available for their use. In response, the University has since held a number of our own events on and off campus encouraging local residents to visit Sussex highlighting research, facilities and open space available to the community as well as using other channels (such as media) to promote the institution.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/44591

Self-assessment scoreDeveloping your strategy3

Aspect 2: Support

The University has put in place structures both centrally and in academic schools to support public and community engagement. There are key roles within our professional services in both External Relations and Research and Enterprise that create and develop relationships with local partners and our academic community. The University commits resources to supporting this activity and encourages engagement with the public and our local community.

The challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic have delayed the further development of a comprehensive community relations strategy to align with our new strategic framework, however the work itself has not stopped and there is continued support from senior leaders at the institution. There remains support for engagement with the community and this is facilitated through the Sussex in the Community pages on our website. The Community pages allow our community to engage with the University and see the work we are undertaking to support them whilst also providing an opportunity for them to contact us. This has been particularly helpful during the pandemic. https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/community

The University hosted the Brighton & Hove Citizens group and invited staff and students to participate in the training alongside community leaders. The training was supported by the University’s Provost who encouraged staff to attend and learn new skills which could help support community engagement. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/50939

The University’s senior staff provide ongoing support for engagement with our local community at a strategic level, and act as advocates to encourage inward investment to the local area. The Vice Chancellor until recently served as a Board member of the Local Enterprise partnership (Coast 2 Capital) and continues to serve alongside community leaders on the City Board and the Greater Brighton Economic Board https://greaterbrighton.com/about-us/about-the-board/meet-the-board/. Through these public roles the Vice Chancellor has used the assets of the University to support investment in the region from international companies, for example the University supported major bids from both Hastings and Brighton to encourage Channel 4 to relocate to the region.

Sussex has established a specific category in our annual Education Awards to recognise achievement and encourage all staff to participate in local and community activities. The Better World Award recognises staff who are having a positive impact in our local community and beyond. In particular, this award seeks to recognise where community engagement has been built into the curriculum. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/the-education-awards/

Alongside the Education Awards recognising the contribution of staff, Sussex has recently launched the Spirit of Sussex Award for students. The award celebrates students’ extracurricular efforts and voluntary achievements. The award is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at Sussex. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/52633 The award is further supported through the University’s social media channels with a dedicated Instagram page to promote the award. https://www.instagram.com/sosasussex/

Self-assessment scoreSupport structures and recognition3

Aspect 3: Activity

In support of the University’s strategy, our staff have participated in a number of activities to share knowledge and engage with the public and community. This has developed both centrally and at a school level. The examples below provide a selection of the activities we have undertaken to engage with public and community groups and supporting local objectives on a national and international level.

As an example of public engagement the University shared leading research to deliver a public outreach event in London to increase understanding of quantum physics and the benefits it could bring to the economy. The University hosted an innovative pop up lab in Spitalfields Market which was attended by hundreds of visitors including school children and industry representatives. The pop up lab was developed with the support of staff from across the University including from the widening participation team who used feedback from schools in our region to refine the development of the activities delivered during the week. The pop up lab won a Gold award at the 2018 national HEIST awards in the category of public and business engagement. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/40852 Sussex physicists then curated an exhibition on quantum computing at the Science Museum in London. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/43762

The University has played an active role in Alzheimer’s Research UK South Coast network and in 2019 hosted an event with around 100 members of the public which included hands-on demonstrations and talks from researchers, with an opportunity for attendees to put their questions to the experts. This event is an example of how the University has sought to support two way engagement with patients, carers and families. The event responded to the needs of our regional community and helped scientists better understand the lived experience of patients. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/newsandevents/?page=3&id=47644

In response to requests from the local community who established Brighton & Hove as a City of Sanctuary https://brighton-and-hove.cityofsanctuary.org/ the University was approached by representatives of community organisations to become a University of Sanctuary. The University has a history of academics working to support forced migrants and was proud to achieve University of Sanctuary status in 2020. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/52127

As a founding member of the Brighton & Hove Citizens group, Sussex students and staff have worked together with local community organisations to co-create and support campaigns on local issues. https://www.citizensuk.org/brighton_hove This ongoing campaigning activity has focussed on issues identified through a comprehensive listening exercise involving a number of local residents. These range from reopening of local toilets and mental health to using the expertise of the group and academics at Sussex to develop a BAME Leaders programme. https://twitter.com/profsaulbecker/status/1270831280914083840

In addition to supporting community activities the University has supported public and community events in Brighton & Hove including as examples the Brighton Marathon and Brighton & Hove Pride. In 2017 the University was a co-host of the British Science Festival, and held public engagement events across the city and additionally provided volunteers and professional services support for the Festival. https://www.sussex.ac.uk/news/features/archive/british-science-festival

The University’s Sussex 2025 strategy seeks to build a Better University for a Better World. To achieve this, as well as engaging with our local community to help change policies through campaigns and sharing knowledge, the University has hosted events in Parliament. Following consultation events hosted by students and staff with the local community, it was decided the University should work with our community to tackle the issue of homelessness. In addition to campaigning locally through Brighton & Hove Citizens it was decided the University would host an event in Parliament to enable politicians to access the information they need to inform policymaking. In developing the event the University worked with community organisations, national charities, local MPs, councillors and the local authority. Research from Sussex academics clearly demonstrated the additional resources needed from government to support homeless people in the region. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/49009

During the pandemic the University has recognised our role as an anchor institution in the region and taken action to support our local community. The University established a strategic COVID Research, Equipment and Supplies Taskforce to respond to requests from local businesses and the community. This led in turn to the University working with the local resilience forum, councils and government responding to requests. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/51743

Self-assessment scoreDelivering your strategy4

Aspect 4: Results and learning

The University carried out significant engagement with our local and campus communities to develop our strategic plan. The results of this activity were used to inform the development of the Sussex 2025 strategic pillars including Engage for Change.

Following each public and community engagement event, activity is audited to ensure objectives are met. As an example following our collaboration with others in the community and the British Science Festival the following report was produced with partners to evaluate and assess the impact of the activity. http://sciencefestivals.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/British-Science-Festival-2017-evaluation-report.pdf Evaluations are used to inform future activity.

The University is currently conducting a survey of residents across the region to review awareness of activities Sussex has undertaken in public and community engagement, and to determine areas the public believe the University should support. This results of the survey and follow up focus group will inform our future work in this area and efforts to co-create a Civic University Agreement with local partners.

Self-assessment scoreEvidencing success2

Aspect 5: Acting on results

Through a comprehensive programme of media, internal communications and political engagement the University has secured opportunities to share the results of activities with our internal and external communities. The links within this document provide examples of how we have sought to highlight public and community activity with external and internal audiences though there are many more links available on our news pages https://www.sussex.ac.uk/news/. We have produced a range of content to engage our community including a suite of videos which are used across our platforms to explain public engagement activity. An example of this is a video which was created to support the pop up quantum lab at Spitalfields market. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xEoZdFkn1E

The Community pages on our website provide a portal for engagement with our local community to both demonstrate our work and provide a means for our community to share their views. https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/community

We celebrate the success of public engagement and community activities with our internal audiences both in our regular weekly bulletin to all staff and in the Vice Chancellor’s Open Forums which staff attend throughout the year which provide opportunities for staff and students to ask questions and provide feedback. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/communications/internal/communications/channels/bulletin

The impact of the University’s activities in public and community engagement are reflected in staff objectives, monitored annually by managers and the institutional KPIs associated with the Sussex 2025 strategy through the Engage for Change pillar which are monitored by the University’s Council.

Self-assessment scoreCommunicating and acting on the results3