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The latest announcements, press releases and media coverage from University Alliance.

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  1. Letter in the Financial Times: what’s miss­ing in the con­ver­sa­tion about uni­versit­ies

    January 23, 2024

    In a letter to the Financial Times, University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson talks about what’s missing in the conversations about the current challenges facing the higher education sector. “Robert Shrimsley’s piece on the crisis in higher education (Opinion, January 18) summarises the financial challenges facing universities in England well. There’s something missing however in the conversation about the value of universities, w…

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  2. ‘Let’s Get Technical’: University Alliance publishes five policy asks for the next Government

    September 29, 2023

    University Alliance, an association of the UK’s leading professional and technical universities, has today (Friday 29 September) published ‘Let’s Get Technical: How to harness the power of professional and technical universities to deliver for the UK’. Launched to coincide with party conference season, ‘Let’s Get Technical’ proposes five long-term goals for the next UK government, alongside a set of policy suggestions to help realise each goal. T…

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    Film students photographed - the Let's Get Technical campaign image

  3. University Alliance ‘relieved’ as UK re-joins Horizon Europe

    September 7, 2023

    University Alliance has responded to the announcement that the UK is to re-join Horizon Europe. Commenting on the news, Vanessa Wilson, CEO of University Alliance, said: “We are delighted and relieved that, after many years of uncertainty, the UK has associated fully with Horizon Europe. Collaborations with international partners are vital to harnessing the country’s research and innovation capability, and Horizon has always offered the best poss…

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    Vanessa Wilson

  4. University Alliance responds to the initial proposed changes to the Research Excellence Framework (REF)

    June 15, 2023

    In response to the initial proposed changes to the Research Excellence Framework (REF), Vanessa Wilson CEO of University Alliance said: “We welcome the initial proposed changes to the next Research Excellence Framework. In our consultation response to the Future Research Assessment Programme, we outlined concerns that REF would become a more frequent exercise. We are therefore delighted that REF will next be conducted in 2028. This brings a degre…

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  5. “Innovation needs to be kick-started”: University Alliance responds to Horizon alternative proposals

    April 6, 2023

    On 6 April 2023, the Government released a prospectus for a potential UK alternative to the Horizon Europe, named Pioneer. In response, Vanessa Wilson, CEO of University Alliance, said: “The whole Higher Education sector has been unanimous that association with Horizon Europe will always be our preference ahead of any alternative scheme. That said, University Alliance will consider the proposals in the Pioneer prospectus with great interest. Rese…

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  6. University Alliance responds to the Spring Budget

    March 15, 2023

    University Alliance, the association of the UK’s leading professional and technical universities, has today responded to the Chancellor’s spring budget statement. Commenting on the statement, Vanessa Wilson, University Alliance CEO, said: On investment zones: “The Chancellor has clearly recognised the role universities play in driving growth in the Spring budget today. We are pleased that universities are recognised as key partners in investment …

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  7. Over 300 businesses sign University Alliance letter calling on Chancellor to protect “essential” regional innovation programmes

    March 2, 2023

    A letter signed by over 300 SMEs and 16 universities has been sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt this week. The signatories call on the Chancellor to provide bridge funding for university-led research & innovation projects funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is used by universities to support local businesses. The UK will lose access to the funding at the end of March 2023. Ahead of the Spring budg…

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  8. University Alliance announce support for rejection of Springer Nature proposals

    February 21, 2023

    In response to the HE sector’s recent rejection of the proposals presented by Springer Nature, on open access to research, University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson said: “Our university members are fully behind the recent decision by the sector, and the negotiating team, to reject the latest offer from Springer Nature. We recognise and welcome the improvements that Springer Nature has made to its offer throughout the negotiations. However, the late…

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  9. University-business coalition calls on Chancellor to invest in Innovation for Growth

    October 26, 2022

    Today, a group of Universities and Industry Partners have sent an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt MP, calling on the Government to recommit to investing in Innovation for Growth. The open letter, coordinated and led by University Alliance, has been signed by business leaders from the likes of Siemens, Gatwick Airport, BusinessWest and the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, as well as Vice-Chancellors and academic…

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    Innovation For Growth

  10. A vision for growth: University Alliance outlines six actions the government can take to drive growth through universities

    September 22, 2022

    As the new government settle in to their posts and prepare for a fiscal event on Friday (23 September), University Alliance have released A Vision for Growth. In it, the Alliance outline a vision for national and regional growth, fuelled by technical and professional universities. The document emphasises three areas of focus: delivering the skills the UK needs, driving regional growth through innovation, and turbo-boosting the UK’s global ambitio…

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