Pictured above: Professor Ian Marshall
Coventry University is one of 98 universities in the UK to
benefit from a share of £600 million funding made available
by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
The funding for 2011/12 to 2014/15 is to help with the recovery
and growth of the economy and follows the Government's decision to
continue Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) with a focus on
the highest-performing universities working with businesses.
Coventry was one of the universities chosen because it has an
established track record in successful collaboration work with
businesses. The funding will continue to support the on-going
knowledge exchange activities.
In the recent funding announcement, two of Coventry's successful
initiatives were highlighted which are supported by the current
HEIF and both are good examples of how the University has worked
with companies to help with a product or initiative.
Professor Ian Marshall, Deputy Vice Chancellor with
responsibility for Applied Research, said:
"HEIF funding enables us to work with external businesses and
the continued funding is a vote of confidence in what we are doing.
Universities, through their research and development expertise,
have a vital role to play in the recovery and growth of the UK
economy and the Government's commitment to maintain Higher
Education Innovation Funding and to ensure stability over the next
four years is a welcome boost."
Some recent analysis of the latest data from the Higher
Education-Business and Community Interaction HE-BCI) survey shows
that out of a possible 198 Higher Education institutions across the
UK, Coventry University is ranked 2nd for the number of consultancy
contracts it has with external organisations and 1st for the number
of consultancy contracts it completes on behalf of SMEs (Small
Medium Enterprises). Coventry is also in the top 5 for the number
of consultancy contracts in completes on behalf of large commercial
organisations.
Professor Marshall added:
"Coventry University is proving year on year that it can compete
with higher ranking Universities when it comes to consultancy work.
However, we are also one of the top 6 post-92 Universities
for generating collaborative research income and ranked second
nationally for the income received for regeneration and development
programmes which netted us almost £11m in 2009-10."
For more information about Coventry University, please visit
their website here: www.coventry.ac.uk