King's has formally signed the UK Knowledge Exchange Concordat in partnership with Knowledge Exchange UK (KEUK) to further enhance commitments to creating real-world impact from research and innovation.
Knowledge Exchange is a vital process that connects research with businesses, investors, charities, and public sector organisations to drive impactful innovation. It can support breakthrough discoveries, incremental improvements, and new products to move from the lab or office into the wider world.
King's has a long-standing track record of addressing complex societal challenges through this work, and the signing of the Knowledge Exchange UK Concordat now points to a renewed, institution-wide focus on strengthening these relationships, and further maximising the impact of King's research, education and innovation.
Becoming a Knowledge Exchange Concordat member signals our commitment to high standards in translating research into innovations with real world impact. Through our membership we now have a clear framework to strengthen our collaboration with industry, government and communities that can support our Knowledge Exchange activity.
Professor Sebastien Ourselin FREng FMedSci, Assistant Principal (Innovation)
Flagship initiatives such as the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering are testament to the ways King's already brings together universities, the NHS, industry and communities to address shared challenges through collaboration. Through Knowledge Exchange, the Institute is transforming the commercial translation of healthcare technology innovations.
Meanwhile, initiatives such as the SPARK Innovation Fund, launched in December 2025, exemplify the widespread support King's offers researchers from Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Business and Law (known as SHAPE subject areas) to innovate and build partnerships beyond the university. Dr Vicky McGuinness has also been appointed new SHAPE Industry Research Partnerships Manager to oversee and enhance activity in this area.
Building on the legacy of impactful Knowledge Exchange activity, King's is now reconfirming its continued leadership support for the principles of Knowledge Exchange, and contributing to a culture of continuous improvement across the sector.
Through its commitment to the Concordat, King's will continue to monitor progress, evaluate success and share lessons learned, ensuring that Knowledge Exchange remains a core institutional strength.
The signing of the Concordat also aligns with the ambitions and values of King's new Strategy 2030, launched in January to set out King's priorities and ambitions for the next five years.
This commitment is firmly aligned with King's Strategy 2030, which places impact, engagement and service to society at the heart of the university's mission. The Concordat provides a robust framework to support deeper collaboration with industry and public sector, accelerate the translation of knowledge into practice, and ensure our policies and ways of working enable effective external engagement.
Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi CBE FREng FRS, Senior Vice President (Research & Special Initiatives), King's College London
