Working together: Collaboration
Collaboration underpins all of our work. It is central to our research and innovation, but it is equally important for our professional and technical services. Collaboration allows us to learn from each other and share our knowledge and experience for mutual benefit, and for the benefit of our region. It stretches across our universities, but also links and anchors us with the external stakeholders, regional businesses, local authorities, and other organisations within our communities.
Collaboration has led to significant projects such as the £3m ARISE Initiative, which brings together eight institutions to develop resilience in our coastal communities and seas, the £3m T-PIKE Project, which will empower technicians to gain innovation skills, and the £5m EIRA Programme, which enabled knowledge exchange between EARC universities and local businesses.
The Eastern Arc universities have also worked together on doctoral training partnerships (DTPs), including the AHRC-funded CHASE consortium, the NERC-funded Aries programme, and the first iteration of the ESRC-funded SenSS collaboration.
We will continue this work and will act as facilitators and enablers for collaboration, galvanising positive action and creative opportunities for our universities and for our region as a whole.
What do our collaborations look like?
Our collaborative work takes many forms dependent on the needs of those involved, the strengths they bring, and the opportunities they can explore. Below are some examples of some of these.
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‘Advancing Resilience and Innovation for a Sustainable Environment’ (or ARISE) is a ground-breaking research project, funded by UKRI, which seeks to develop resilience within the UK’s coastal seas and communities.Over the course of five years, the project team will work with local stakeholders to design and test different ‘interventions’, or ways of tackling difficult and long-standing problems.
At the end of the project, we will have a powerful and practical toolkit which local councils and other organisations can use to address the challenges facing our coast.
Arise is an inclusive collaboration among: local, regional, and national authorities; coastal residents, heritage groups and people who care about UK coasts; and experts in policy analysis, cultural engagement, creative practice, health sciences, biological sciences, computer science, pollution management, disaster studies, environmental sciences, economics, and geography.
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In 2021 the Chief Medical Officer looked at health in coastal communities, and highlighted that the available data on health and wellbeing were poor and lacked granularity. He recommended that this should be addressed to support the development of policies aimed at improving the health of coastal communities.The Eastern Arc Coastal Data (‘Coda’) Network was established to provide a framework to address this. It is intended to be responsive to the needs of its members, to explore opportunities to collaborate and facilitate the robust collection, sharing and analysis of data, and to identify ways in which we can work together for the benefit of our coastal communities.
After a soft launch in 2023, the Coda Network was formally launched in 2024 and now acts as a forum in which academics, researchers, NHS trusts, local authorities, integrated care boards and others can meet and collaborate.
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EIRA (Enabling Innovation: Research To Application) was a pioneering new project that transformed the business and economic landscape in the East of England by creating a step change in the way Knowledge Exchange (KE) was delivered. As the project draws to a close, we are pleased to publish the EIRA Final Report.With £4.7 million funding from Research England, EIRA supported economic growth in the region by connecting businesses with the research power of universities through Knowledge Exchange initiatives. EIRA connected the capabilities of seven prominent higher education institutions (HEIs), including and led by the original three EARC universities. By linking these institutions together and partnering with businesses, EIRA harnessed their combined capacity to build connectivity and support business growth, providing a one-stop solution for business innovation.
EIRA will be leaving behind a rich legacy of case studies, videos, events and online quick guides as an essential digital resource for academics and staff new to knowledge exchange. Our final animation also demonstrates how our projects have supported business collaborations with academic experts to produce far-reaching and impactful results and we look forward to seeing how EIRA continues to influence the region in the years to come.
You can read the full report that was created for this project here.
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Led by technicians, our Technicians’ Network allows research technical professionals (RTPs) to share knowledge and best practice, to host events (such as our annual Technicians’ Symposium), and explore ways in which we can work more closely together, such as developing visits and exchanges. The TN also helps to raise the profile of RTPs and for them to have the recognition they deserve as a fundamental and essential part of the research ecosystem.T-PIKE
This led, in 2024, to the establishment of the Technical Platform for Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (T-PIKE). Jointly-funded by EPSRC and regional businesses and other organisations, this £3m programme provides the training and experience for technicians to understand and engage with innovation activities, developing the skills to both actively ensure that the collaboration between universities and external stakeholders is as strong and productive as possible, and that career opportunities for RTP are increased. -
Eastern Arc is developing a framework for sharing equipment across the consortium. One area of common interest and potential benefit is around imaging, both in the facilities each university hosts, and in their imaging analysis capability and expertise.An Imaging Platform Alliance (IPA) was set up to facilitate work in this specific area. A memorandum of understanding was signed by PVCs and the DVC at the three EARC universities, which set out the parameters and activity for the IPA, and the Alliance was launched shortly afterwards, enabling staff and doctoral students to access a wider range of equipment and facilities across the Arc.