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N8 Research Partnership
Sharing research equipment boosts industry in the north
The N8 Research Partnership has improved and updated its equipment-sharing database. This will make it easier to share apparatus from the region’s most research-intensive universities.
Nick Goldspink, interim co-director at N8, explains how the database's improvements will be a massive step forward to academics and to Northern industry, saving money, boosting efficiency and aiding research.
Impact of high performance computing facility revealed by N8 partnership
N8's high performance computing (HPC) facility has led to more than 90 collaborations between universities and businesses to date, a report by the research partnership has revealed. The document highlighting the impact N8 is having on the north's economy says the N8 HPC has featured in 84 grant applications totalling £59.8m and its use noted in 377 published research papers.
Implementation of Cost-Sharing Exemption in Universities
N8 universities have been working towards utilisation of the VAT Cost-Sharing Exemption (CSE) for sharing of equipment through the development of an approved Cost Sharing Group (CSG) model. By using an existing shared asset - N8 high performance computing - as a model facility for setting up a CSG, the N8 hoped to demonstrate its value and viability.
Cost sharing benefits outweighed by risks and costs, says N8 Research Partnership
A report by the N8 Research Partnership concludes the benefits of university 'cost sharing exemption' are outweighed by risks and costs, after running a cost sharing group for universities which share equipment. This press release produced by N8 following the two year project claims that too many legal and financial hurdles exist
How innovation communities can deliver more effective research
Successful interfaces between the third sector, business, and academia are becoming critical in research programmes. N8 director Peter Simpson describes how cross-sectoral ‘innovation communities’ can enable collaboration, producing more effective research and a wide range of other benefits.
Peter Simpson of N8: ‘deep collaboration is now the norm’
The N8 group of northern universities has a new director, Dr Peter Simpson. We caught up with the former AstraZeneca department head who nurtured collaborative projects at the pharmaceutical giant to find out his plans to encourage collaboration in higher education.
N8 highlights the impact of asset sharing across UK universities
The report, which reveals asset sharing's role in delivering innovation, increased productivity, and maximum value for public investment, helped to shape Thursday's Efficiency, Effectiveness and Value for Money report by Universities UK.
Raising the return – how do we do it?
In the final blogpost in our series on asset sharing, Sarah Jackson and Luke Georghiou say that despite the progress in this area, more work must be done to deliver full benefits.
Sharing equipment – a welcome efficiency?
The dramatic cuts in capital funding in 2011 rocked academics working in scientific research. However as Lancaster University VC Mark Smith reports, this shock to the system has enabled the concept of equipment sharing to gain real ground.
Raising the return: the benefits and opportunities from equipment sharing
Sharing equipment will be a key theme in Professor Sir Ian Diamond’s forthcoming report on efficiency in higher education. Sarah Jackson and Luke Georgiou introduce findings from the study of this activity which show that it is helping to advance scientific research while delivering value to the public purse.
