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Read blogs from members across the University Alliance and from the UA policy team

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  1. Continuing the conversation between Emma Hardy MP and Professor Jane Harrington, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Greenwich 

    The Covid-19 crisis should be an opportunity to re-examine how we deliver education, and, as was discussed recently ‘in conversation with Emma Hardy MP’ at the University Alliance Summit, a chance to use our connections with industry to play our part in the nation’s recovery from Covid-19. Several weeks have passed since that conversation took place and quite a few things have changed. So we have decided to catch-up with Emma again and follow up …

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  2. Polling the public to inform our strategic planning to the recovery response

    The coronavirus pandemic has touched just about every aspect of our lives and it is certain that we will witness lasting economic, social, cultural and health implications for decades to come. With every political and policy agenda item now being addressed through this lens, we must be prepared to reframe our work to speak to this ‘new normal’. It was against this backdrop and amidst preparations for the looming emergency budget that we commissio…

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    Vanessa Wilson CEO
  3. The importance of listening to businesses in developing degree apprenticeships

    Since degree apprenticeships were introduced in 2015, Alliance universities across the country have embraced the opportunity to drive skills development and collaboration with businesses. We work with many businesses to co-create courses that teach the right calibre of expertise in the areas most important to them. For students, it’s a fantastic blend of academic theory and the real-world experience they get from their employment. For businesses,…

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  4. Realising the benefits of the KEF through collaboration

    The KEF affords universities an opportunity to highlight the impact of Knowledge Exchange, but at Greenwich and across University Alliance, we believe its true social, economic and environmental benefits can only be realised through collaboration, within and across universities. Last week Research England released the conclusions of their consultation on the upcoming Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF). For universities, the KEF is an opportunity …

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  5. The DTA is Intersectoral- Part 4

    Dr Vladimir Vukovic, Deputy Director of the Energy research stream within UA’s Doctoral Training Alliance relates his experience working across both academia and industry, and the benefits this has brought him. The DTA programme is committed to not only supporting researchers through their PhDs but providing them with the full range of skills and experience they’ll need for a fulfilling career in academia or industry. Working with the DTA Energy …

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  6. The DTA is Intersectoral- Part 3

    I caught up with DTA3 researcher Arantza Cobela Garcia to discuss her research and how the Doctoral Training Alliance has helped her apply it to real world problems, crossing the boundary between academia and professional research. Arantza is a researcher on the extended Doctoral Training Alliance programme (DTA3), run by University Alliance. Her PhD is hosted by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and falls within the Applied Bioscience…

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  7. The DTA is Intersectoral- Part 2

    Doctoral Training Alliance researcher SreeHarsha Bandaru writes about his experience of crossing the divide between academia and industry, at the Nuclear Innovation Bootcamp, and how being part of DTA helped him to get there. The Nuclear Innovation Bootcamp is a fully funded two-week intensive programme where 50 speakers, 30 mentors and 10 organisers help participants design a company and a product that will transform the creation of nuclear ener…

    Read more of: The DTA is Intersectoral- Part 2
  8. The DTA is Intersectoral- Part 1

    The Doctoral Training Alliance is University Alliance’s flagship programme, making funded doctoral fellowships available across the UK’s leading professional and technical universities. At its heart, the programme is committed to being International, Interdisciplinary and Intersectoral. In the series The DTA is Intersectoral, we showcase how our funded PhDs cut across different sectors, building bridges between academia and industry, and provides…

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  9. Regional Investment, European Funding and Defining Value: The Future Challenges for Research

    This blog was initially published by Research Fortnight. The new government’s agenda poses universities some existential questions, says Vanessa Wilson A December election was always going to be a daunting prospect. But one heartening aspect was witnessing the role of universities and students’ unions in supporting student voter registration and turnout. It might not have been the youthquake some were predicting, but voter apathy was certainly no…

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  10. British Academy join our call to look beyond salary-led definitions of value

    With a potential future Conservative government threatening to tackle “low-value” degrees, the British Academy’s Head of Higher Education and Skills Policy, Harriet Barnes, asks what we actually mean by “value” when it comes to Higher Education and how we can avoid being led astray by narrow definitions. The question of the ‘average’ salary in the UK suddenly became a hot topic in the General Election campaign when an audience member at the BBC Q…

    Read more of: British Academy join our call to look beyond salary-led definitions of value