Business and public engagement activities at the University of Southampton have again been recognised as amongst the best in England in a set of assessment results. In the fourth round of the annual UK-wide Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), the University has retained its top scores and is recognised as enabling ‘high’ or ‘very high’ engagement across all areas of assessment.
Southampton achieved the top rating of ‘very high engagement’ in four categories: public and community engagement; Intellectual Property (IP) and commercialisation; working with business; and working with the public and third sector. It achieved the second highest rating, ‘high engagement’, for research partnerships; local growth and regeneration; and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and graduate start-ups. These results put Southampton at or above the average in all areas of assessment compared to other similar institutions.
The KEF plays a key role in providing unique and important public information on the rich and diverse ways English universities continue to deliver positive impact to society and support our economy, locally, nationally, and internationally through productivity and job creation.
Professor Mark Spearing, the University’s Vice-President for Research and Enterprise, said: “The University of Southampton contributes more than £4bn to the UK economy each year, largely due to our high-performing Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise (KEE) activities. I am delighted that our University continues to deliver a very strong performance in KEE and has retained our top spot in this area, as measured by the KEF. This is testament to the hard work of our diverse community and reflects the relevance of our Triple Helix Strategy, which draws KEE, education and research together.”
The full results of KEF 2024 are available on the Research England website.