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30 November 2011

Welcome to the November issue of our ebulletin, which highlights some of the achievements and developments that have taken place across the N8 Research Partnership over the past month.

This month it was confirmed that Prof. Chris Brink, Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University will become the new Chair of N8 from February 2012. He will pay a key role in leading the N8 in fostering innovation across the UK and has ambitious plans for the future.

We have also been talking to the Department of Work and Pensions and the Local Enterprise Partnerships in the North about our demographic change research, which is making a great deal of progress.

It has been a very successful month for several of the N8 universities including the University of Sheffield, who won the Times Higher Education's 'University of the Year' award 2011, with 4 of the other N8 universities also picking up awards. It was also a good month for N8 supported QuantuMDx who won two healthcare awards for innovation and technology.

Finally, our Parasitology research theme is gaining momentum and we have launched a new Parasitology section to our website.

We hope you find this ebulletin interesting and informative, and welcome your feedback.

With warm regards,

Sarah Jackson
N8 Research Partnership

Chris Brink Appointed as New Chair of N8

Professor Chris Brink, Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University, has been appointed as the new Chair of the N8 Research Partnership.

The announcement was made on Friday 18 November that Professor Brink will officially take up his position as Chair of the N8 Research Partnership Board on 23 February 2012.

His responsibilities as Chair will include the development of new strategic research collaborations with business and research users to support innovation, economic growth and job creation in the North of England as well as the rest of the UK.

Parasitology Research Theme Gains Momentum

The N8 Parasitology Network has been formed in order to address many key issues including the development of vaccines, diagnostic tools and drugs.

Led by Durham University and consisting of more than 40 academics and dozens of post-doctoral and PhD students, the network capitalises on the wealth of parasitology expertise within the N8 Research Partnership.

We have created a section on the website that includes further information on the Parasitology group and what their plans are for the future.

N8 University Wins THE ‘University of the Year’ Award

N8 universities were awarded five of the 18 honours at the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2011, including the prestigious ‘University of the Year’ award, which went to the University of Sheffield.

The awards won by the N8 universities included an award for widening participation, won by Newcastle University, an award for supporting early stage researchers, won by the University of Manchester and an award for outstanding engineering research team of the year, won by the University of York.

Double Win at Healthcare Awards for QuantuMDx

METRC partner QuantuMDx Group Ltd scooped two awards at the Cels Business for Life Awards 2011, held in November in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Awards, now in their fifth year, showcase and celebrate the achievements of the North East of England’s brightest life science and healthcare companies.

QuantuMDx’s decision to relocate from London to Newcastle to take advantage of the facilities and expertise at Newcastle University including genotyping and gene sequencing expert Prof. Sir John Burn was facilitated by the N8 Centre for Molecular Engineering, METRC. This move and collaboration paid dividends with the company winning both the Innovation and Technology Awards.

The Impact of Demographic Change

Following its launch in September, we have been actively disseminating our research on the impact of demographic change. We have been invited to present at the Engage HEI conference being held 9-10 January 2012 (hosted by Lancaster University Management School and The Work Foundation), which showcases how collaborations between universities, research commissioners, government departments and other key stakeholders offers a model for achieving impact and influence.

During November representatives from the research team met with both the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government to discuss their research findings and implications for key areas of government policy concerning the impact that demographic change will have on the economy. Following other successful events with the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the North of England, the Leeds LEP organised a session for local stakeholders which focused on the economic opportunities and challenges arising from a changing population.

Download our reports into the Impact of Demographic Change in the North of England.

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