King's College London has again ranked among the top English universities in this year's Knowledge Exchange Framework results.
First launched in 2019, the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) is an annual assessment of English higher education institutions that measures how universities mutually share knowledge with different types of partners in order to benefit the economy and society beyond academia.
By assessing the knowledge exchange activities of institutions, the KEF aims to help universities understand their performance, ensure public funding used in knowledge exchange is effective, and to allow for comparisons between clusters of similarly sized universities.
King's is proud to have a long serving commitment to Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, and we are making strategic developments in this area to further support our commercialisation, innovation and transformation activity.
Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Vice-President (Research & Innovation)
King's belongs to Cluster V, which is defined as: "very large, very high research intensive and broad-discipline universities undertaking significant amounts of excellent research."
Cluster V encompasses 17 institutions in total, including Imperial, UCL, Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford, and Cambridge.
The KEF results are divided into seven perspectives, which covers the wide breadth of Knowledge Exchange activities undertaken across the sector. In the new results King's ranked at or above the cluster average in five of the seven perspectives and has scored in the top quintile for two perspectives; Research Partnerships, and IP and Commercialisation.
The KEF success underlines the strength of innovation across King's, and our task now is to build on this momentum. We will focus on creating stronger programmes and a connected ecosystem that give our researchers, students and partners the tools and opportunities to take ideas further, ensuring King's impact is felt well beyond the university.
Professor Sebastian Ourselin, Assistant Principal (Innovation)
King's Commitment to Innovation and Knowledge Exchange
King's has an ambitious Innovation and Knowledge Exchange agenda, rooted in our commitment to serving society through academic excellence. King's continues to invest in programmes that ensure research makes a positive and lasting difference in the world.
Initiatives such as the Sanctuary Programme and Help to Grow, as well as work led by King's Policy Institute have helped increase King's Local Growth & Regeneration score, reflecting the University's commitment to demonstrating how King's supports local communities and driving inclusive growth.
Further, King's commitment to the translation and commercialisation of research remains strong, with increased support for the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering and Startup, Spinout, and MedTech Accelerators, as well as King's Venture Builder which supports companies to scale. King's Entrepreneurship Institute is key to our success in this area and supports entrepreneurial thinking, skills and action among King's students, staff and alumni.
Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Vice-President (Research & Innovation) said "This is an exciting time for King's Innovation Catalyst and the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering and we update our Innovation strategy to maximise our future success. I am pleased that the improvement in our Local Growth and Regeneration score highlights our commitment to working within our local area to strengthen community partnership and foster inclusive economic development."
In March Professor Sebastian Ourselin was appointed as our Assistant Principal Innovation and is leading the development of a new Innovation Strategy for King's, maximising the reach and impact of King's Innovation Catalyst.
King's continues to champion service to society, working collaboratively with partners in London, as well as nationally and internationally to address complex challenges through research, innovation and engagement. These results reflect the dedication of colleagues across the university who are turning our civic mission into tangible impact.
Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin, Vice-President (International, Engagement and Service)
Building on the success of the King's Engaged Research Awards, the inaugural King's Engaged Research Symposium launched. The event enabled King's early career community to develop a culture of engaged research through sharing of best practice and insight from established practitioners working with local communities and users of research.
