The Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) measures how higher education institutions serve the economy and society, benefiting the public, businesses, and communities.
The KEF aims to enable universities to better understand and build upon, or improve, their own performance. It also provides businesses and other users with more information to help them access the world-class knowledge and expertise embedded within universities.
A range of Knowledge Exchange activities is captured across seven perspectives:
- Research partnerships
- Working with business
- Working with the public and the third sector
- Continuing professional development (CPD) and graduate start-ups
- Intellectual Property (IP) and commercialisation
- Public and community engagement
- Local growth and regeneration
The KEF is assessed through metrics and a narrative in the case of Public and Community Engagement and Local Growth and Regeneration. The performance of higher education institutions in knowledge exchange can be compared through clustering with comparable institutions. The relative strength of Lancaster University for each perspective can be viewed on the UKRI Research England website.
The KEF is a measure of most, but not all, of the engagement activity carried out by the University. For example, the metrics it uses indicate the Business Engagement and Public and Community Engagement activities taking place. However, it does not capture policy engagement, for example.
More information is on the KEF webpages, and Lancaster University staff can visit the KEF intranet pages.