Enterprise Universities

Genuine partnership between universities and business

Universities working with business makes sense. Not just for the economy but for the future of talent, research and innovation in the UK. Strong links with business are a central focus of Alliance universities.

Our recent report, 21st Century universities: engines of an innovation-driven economy, found that the most successful approach is one where business engagement is embedded across the university, through everything it does. The aim of Alliance universities is to have a model of knowledge exchange rather than knowledge transfer – business engagement isn’t just an add-on at the end of the research process. Rather, it needs to be intricately woven through everything the university does. New ideas and innovation are formed out of this partnership, together driving economic growth.

The knowledge exchange activities of HEIs generated £1.94 billion in income in 2007, growing by approximately 12% per annum over the period 2001-07. We must continue to support these activities with an appropriate funding infrastructure that enables universities to lever additional funding from business and to foster partnerships that generate innovation. Alliance universities have strong expertise in this approach. They have developed strong partnerships with both national and international business to actively embed businesses engagement across all they do. This builds collaboration on curriculum design, research delivering solutions, graduates, research and innovation that is relevant to the needs of the economy and society.