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Executive Summary
The N8 Research Partnership is the North’s
regional network of world class research-
intensive universities, who come together
to combine their strengths in long-term
partnership.
This report exemplifies how the N8 institutions,
as major economic enterprises, generate
revenue and economic activity in the North of
England, as well as creating jobs and attracting
investment to the region.
N8 universities are outward facing, serving as an integral part
of the fabric of their regional business communities. They
support and deliver thousands of new collaborative research
partnerships with Northern and national businesses. N8
university activities are of vital importance to future innovation-
led economic growth of the region. N8 universities deliver for
the North:
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Research income of £1.2 billion p.a. – 88% of all Northern HE
research income.
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Regional economic impact of £12.2 billion p.a.
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190,000 students in N8 universities – a highly
international population
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119,000 FTE jobs due to N8 - equivalent to all the jobs within
a Northern city such as Salford.
As this report shows, we play a leading part in establishing new
businesses, innovating to grow existing businesses, developing
world-class research hubs that support key industrial sectors,
and training the next generation of business entrepreneurs
and leaders. We hold a strong portfolio of patents, establish
spin outs and start-ups, provide consultancy to businesses and
non-commercial organisations, and drive up efficiency through
shared computational facilities and enabling business access to
our high-value research facilities.
The North is shaped by stark differences in economic and
innovation strength across our towns and cities. The regional
economy is in great need of better infrastructure, innovation
support, and a strategy for long-term economic resilience. The
research-intensive universities have a key role to play.
Currently, the university sector is experiencing, and anticipating,
highly challenging times - including research funding
uncertainty due to potentially severe impact of Brexit on
EU research funding, and changes to UK research funding
structures. There are also new opportunities emerging through
devolution, notably for the North to work collaboratively and to
form a coherent voice for research and innovation-led
economic strategy.
What would enable innovation in the North to further flourish?
N8 proposes an agreed Northern Strategy for Innovation that
would make regional collaborations easier and ensure region-
wide funding aligned to greatest benefit. We also support
streamlined processes and greater funding for SME research
collaborations with universities. N8 will seek funding to expand
our portfolio of Northern Innovation and Research Communities,
growing our existing focus on Urban Transformation and
AgriFood Resilience and going beyond these. Finally, N8
encourages development of a pan-Northern, cross-sectoral
approach to graduate attraction and retention, enterprise
and entrepreneurship.
Professor Koen Lamberts, Chair of N8 Research Partnership
and Vice-Chancellor, University of York; and Dr Peter Simpson,
Director, N8 Research Partnership
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