Making a difference
In Autumn 2020, Research England allocated universities across the country additional money to support and strengthen links between research and policy priorities, from the local to the global. The rules for allocating the cash were admirably straightforward and unbureaucratic, with perhaps one exception: the cash needed to be spent by the end of March 2021.
The tight deadline galvanised researchers across the university to work creatively and at pace to develop proposals to build new relationships, strengthen existing ones, and to innovate and experiment.
This blog series, hosted by the University of Nottingham’s Institute for Policy and Engagement, showcases the outcomes from the projects selected for funding. The blogs will illustrate the range of projects funded, from big to small, local to global, and from a wide range of disciplines. It will look at what projects achieved, the lessons that were learnt, what could have gone better as well as what went well.
We hope it will be a resource for colleagues here and in other universities when thinking about how to build collaborations and capacity; for funders considering how to create incentives and opportunities for this kind of engagement; and for partner organisations who are looking to build relationships with research.