PA 112/15
The leading research intensive universities in the Midlands have appointed their first Director to oversee the development of an exceptional HE partnership, which aims to harness their combined research power and bring significant economic benefits to the Midlands Engine and rest of the UK.
Dr Helen Turner has been appointed Director of the group, which includes the universities of Aston, Birmingham, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick.
She brings significant experience to the role having spent the last seven years as Director of the Midlands Energy Consortium, where most recently, Dr Turner played a key role in the successful £60m bid to establish the Midlands Energy Research Accelerator.
The partnership of Midlands’ universities was originally established to facilitate the sharing of expensive equipment between research intensive universities and with business.
Over the last two years the ambitions of the partnership have grown significantly and today there are a growing number of collaborations across the Midlands focused on rebalancing and driving economic recovery by combining research power and industrial strengths.
Dr Turner said: “I am delighted to have been appointed and believe the timing is right to strengthen the academic partnerships with the Midlands. There is a wealth of existing collaboration and best practice here which we should shout about and which will help to strengthen the messaging about the capabilities and opportunities within the region and provide much needed leadership and advocacy for the Midlands Engine.”
Professor Sir David Greenaway, Chair of the Group and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nottingham commented: “I am delighted Dr Turner has been appointed to lead the development of this exceptional HE partnership.
“Helen has an ideal background for this role. Her vision, ambition and enthusiasm will be pivotal in strengthening our academic partnerships and driving new initiatives. As Chair of the Group, I am very much looking forward to working with Helen.”
— Ends —
Our academics can now be interviewed for broadcast via our Media Hub, which offers a Globelynx fixed camera and ISDN line facilities at University Park campus. For further information please contact a member of the Communications team on +44 (0)115 951 5798, email mediahub@nottingham.ac.uk or see the Globelynx website for how to register for this service.
For up to the minute media alerts, follow us on Twitter
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia modelled on a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good University Guide 2014). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and the winner of ‘Research Project of the Year’ at the THE Awards 2014. It is ranked in the world’s top one per cent of universities by the QS World University Rankings, and 8th in the UK by research power according to REF 2014.
The University of Nottingham in Malaysia (UNMC) is holding events throughout 2015 to celebrate 15 years as a pioneer of transnational education. Based in Semenyih, UNMC was established as the UK's first overseas campus in Malaysia and one of the first world-wide.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. More news…