UCL’s first knowledge exchange programme for staff

Supporting UCL staff

From 10 to 13 June, experts from across UCL Research, Innovation and Global Engagement led Transform: Creating impact through knowledge exchange.

The aim of the programme was to help UCL staff gain the skills to transform their research and knowledge into real world impact. There was a range of in-person training, workshop and panel events, as well as a digital library of resources.

The programme was open to all UCL academic and professional services staff, whether they were new to knowledge exchange, or already an expert.

Staff had the opportunity to learn about a range of knowledge exchange activities, develop skills to get involved and hear from colleagues who have already successfully made an impact.

Dr Kathryn Walsh, Executive Director of UCL Innovation & Enterprise, says: “Knowledge exchange and innovation (KEI) is integral to what we do at UCL. This has been a fantastic week of events for our inaugural Transform programme. We wanted to hold Transform to support UCL staff to develop the awareness, skills and confidence to get involved in knowledge exchange. It’s been great to see staff from across UCL learn about the importance of KEI and how they can participate. Thank you to everyone who came along and was involved in the organising of this programme.”

The power of knowledge exchange

Knowledge exchange is a two-way exchange of ideas, evidence and expertise between universities, organisations and communities outside of academia. These collaborations help us apply our expertise to generate impact outside of university, while enhancing our teaching and research with real-world examples and knowledge. 

Dr Glory Atilola, Senior Research Fellow in Environmental Epidemiology, UCL Population Health Sciences, attended five of the Transform sessions. Glory says: “I got to know about the Transform events initially while looking for professional opportunities to further enhance my research career and build capacity in research team leadership at UCL. All the sessions [were] incredibly useful and well-delivered. I have enjoyed every one of the five sessions immensely. I look forward to implementing the lessons learned to enhance my research work and produce high-impact science to tackle pressing questions in the field of modern environmental and exposure science, the health impact of climate change and public policies.”

Something for everyone

We held a range of events including leveraging networks for impact, creative evaluation tools, and telling your impact story. Academics and external speakers from across UCL supported the sessions and shared their personal experiences of engaging in KEI.

The events and digital resources covered six themes:

• Innovative partnerships
• Community knowledge exchange and societal impact
• Entrepreneurial thinking for all
• Crafting impact: storytelling, evaluation, and collaboration
• Navigating public policy landscapes
• The impactful academic: useful skills in impact, knowledge exchange and engagement.

Dr Anjali Bakhru, Multidisciplinary Impact Lead, UCL Faculty of Engineering, attended the ‘Leveraging networks for impact session’. Anjali says: “The session provided an informative discussion of the opportunities available for UCL researchers to establish their own networks to engage externally. The second half of the session focused on an actual example of a Therapeutic Innovation Network (TIN). This provided practical insights into the steps involved in developing a network from scratch. Learning from others and considering best practice is invaluable in developing existing and establishing new innovation networks in areas of engineering research.” 

Digital library of resources

If you weren’t able to attend the programme or would like to learn more about how you can make an impact through KEI, find further training, guidance, case studies and other resources on the Transform: Creating impact through knowledge exchange SharePoint site.

Links

Find out more about:

• the digital library of resources
• knowledge exchange support for UCL staff
• transforming lives through collaboration and knowledge exchange