The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds has been appointed as the new Chair of the N8 Research Partnership.
The N8 is a partnership of the North of England's eight research-intensive universities, maximising the impact of research and helping create economic growth by matching demand from business with world-class academic research.
Sir Alan will officially take up his position as Chair of the N8 Research Partnership Board on 14 February 2014.
His responsibilities will include developing new strategic research collaborations to support innovation and economic growth across the North of England, as well as providing leadership to the N8 Research Partnership Board and Pro-Vice-Chancellors Group.
He will also engage with key stakeholders including the Technology Strategy Board, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Sir Alan said: “I am delighted to be appointed as the next Chair of the N8 Research Partnership. The N8 has developed an enviable reputation through its excellent track record in creating research collaborations between academic researchers, business and public sector partners to drive innovation and economic growth.”
Alan takes over the role from Professor Chris Brink, Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University, who has been Chair of the N8 since 2012.
“I would like to thank Chris Brink and pay tribute to his achievements as Chair of the N8,” Sir Alan continued, “Together with the Pro-Vice-Chancellors group, Chris has helped the N8 to go from strength to strength, developing strategic relationships with key partners in an increasingly diverse range of areas including – most recently – policing, industrial biotechnology and the impact of the arts and humanities. I am very excited to have the opportunity to build on this and look forward to contributing to the continued success and sustainability of the N8.”
Sarah Jackson, Director of the N8 Research Partnership, added: “I am absolutely delighted at Alan’s appointment and thrilled to be working with him as we move the N8 Research Partnership forward. This is a very exciting time for us as we continue to pioneer new ways of working together and look to the future for big opportunities for collaborating in research. Alan’s strategic prowess, leadership and unrivalled knowledge of the HE sector will play a pivotal role in this work.”
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The N8 Research Partnership
The N8 is a partnership of the eight research intensive universities in the North of England - Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.
The N8 Research Partnership's main research programmes are:
- Regenerative Medicine
- Nanotechnology
- Industrial Biotechnology
- The Impact of Arts and Humanities
- Policing
- The Impact of Demographic Change
The three broad criteria for the N8 Research Partnership research programmes are:
- Demand for multi-disciplinary solutions from public and private sector research users
- Combinations of multi-disciplinary world-class capability across the N8 universities
- Where working together can achieve a greater output than a single university effort.
Through these programmes, the N8 Research Partnership has worked with over 200 new businesses, many of which are SMEs, generated over £41m of income and created 60 jobs since it was formed in 2007.