University World News article, 6 May, 2012.
Every pound invested in higher education innovation funding adds at least £6 (US$9.70) in knowledge exchange income to the economy, according to a new report sponsored by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, or HEFCE, and launched on 30 April.
The report, Strengthening the Contribution of English Higher Education Institutions to the Innovation System: Knowledge exchange and HEIF funding (PDF, 9 pages), draws on institutional strategies submitted to HEFCE.
These strategies set out how universities are using £600 million in higher education innovation funding.
It comes at a time when the role of higher education institutions in supporting economic growth and development has taken centre stage as governments around the world push for private-sector led, innovation-driven economic recoveries from the current, deep economic downturn.
At the same time there have been several “seismic shifts” in the past four years that have fundamentally changed some of the incentives to invest in knowledge exchange. These include the research impact agenda and the switch to charging students tuition fees...
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