News & Blog

Terms of Reference of the PERN Academic Steering Group

PERN is an academic-led and multi-University model of policy engagement and collaboration, facilitated by Yorkshire Universities. The independent academic steering group of PERN has been established as the prime vehicle through which this model is achieved. The academic steering group was initially informally arranged and developed to meet the urgency of economic recovery.

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Why we need more inward investment to meet our R&D targets

James Ransom, YU Associate

The contribution of business is vital if the UK is to meet its target of R&D investment reaching 2.4 percent of GDP by 2027. International comparisons suggest that this is an ambitious target, that will be difficult to meet: achieving R&D funding goals is the exception rather than the norm. Adão Carvalho assessed how effective R&D intensity policies were across 45 countries, and found that 84 percent missed their targets. For 17 percent of countries, R&D intensity actually decreased over the period of the target.

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Calling all marketing lecturers – opportunity to contribute to an interuniversity marketing competition

Leeds Trinity University are hoping to run a Yorkshire-wide interuniversity marketing competition in semester 2. This will be similar to the format CIM’s ‘The Pitch’ competition but will only be available to level 4 students studying at a university in Yorkshire. The proposed competition will encourage students to work together in small groups in response …

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Solidarity or spectacle – two paths to levelling up

James Ransom, YU Associate

Politicians are fond of comparing the UK to Germany – usually as a model of how we could do something better. A recent example is Boris Johnson’s speech on levelling up from last month. “I remember going to former East Germany in 1990 just after the wall had gone down”, he said, “and I remember being amazed at how far behind west Germany it then was – a place of strange little cars with two stroke engines and fake coffee”. But then he adds, “to a large extent Germany has succeeded in levelling up where we have not”.

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Yorkshire and Humber Councils and Yorkshire Universities agree new Memorandum of Understanding

Yorkshire and Humber Councils and Yorkshire Universities have agreed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), providing a framework for a long-term, strategic partnership between local government and higher education in Yorkshire and the Humber. The MoU sets out how Yorkshire and Humber Councils and Yorkshire Universities will work together to identify and develop new opportunities …

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The creative industries matter to London, Yorkshire and the nation

As published in HEPI on 15 June 2021.

This blog has been kindly contributed by Dr Diana Beech, Chief Executive Officer of London Higher, and Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director of Yorkshire Universities – the umbrella bodies representing universities and higher education colleges across their respective regions. You can find Diana and Peter on Twitter at @dianajbeech and @obrienpeter72.

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Regional Policy, ‘Levelling Up’ and R&D: a north of England perspective

As published on HEPI on 3 June 2021.

This blog was contributed by Dr Annette Bramley, Director, N8 Research Partnership and Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director, Yorkshire Universities. This blog is in response to the recent HEPI report on Regional Policy and R&D. You can find Annette and Peter on Twitter @AnnetteB_N8 and @obrienpeter72.

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New CAPE Regional Development Fellow with Yorkshire Universities

Yorkshire Universities (YU) is delighted to welcome the appointment of Dr Richard Whittle, as the first Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) Regional Development Fellow. Starting on 1 July, Richard will work with YU, the Place-based Economic Recovery Network (PERN) and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, to lead an innovative project tasked with strengthening the use and application of university research to inform public policy in West Yorkshire.

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Graduates, Jobs and Levelling Up Yorkshire

Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director

Last week, the Queen’s Speech set out the government’s legislative programme for the next session of Parliament, with two bills in particular likely to have a direct impact on the higher education system. In this blog, I frame my comments around the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, which is situated alongside the government’s commitment to ‘Level Up’ the regions, and in particular the proposal, as set out in the Queens Speech, to bring more jobs and training to people where they live.

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