N8 Research Partnership Newsletter - November 2015.

November 2015

Director's Update

'Universities, Business and Society: innovating together'

Welcome to the latest news from the N8 Research Partnership.

Over the last couple of months, I have been greatly encouraged to see new and ongoing developments in networks, partnerships, and research programmes - aligned to the goal of capitalising on Northern innovation to deliver economic and social benefit.

N8 is established as a regional catalyst for innovation, and we are continuing to develop new innovation programs, focussing on areas with massive growth potential that can deliver economic and social benefits.

For example, the first ever N8 Policing Innovation Forum was held recently, which brought together senior leaders from across the northern police forces with senior academics. This event aimed to identify new ways to address the major problems inherent in dealing with cybercrime. Interdisciplinary, cross sectoral research programmes such as this shows how the North is starting to work together in innovative ways to solve major challenges.

Also, this month I have had the great opportunity of talking to the UK's Science and Innovation Network, with representatives from across UK’s embassies, and was delighted to be able to explain some of the fantastic investment and research partnering opportunities that are now available across the North of England. It was great to see the level of interest in building new partnerships that came from that. The first N8 Northern Powerhouse forum with Northern LEPs and BIS ran recently. I felt in that event a clear region-wide commitment to a building a strong innovation landscape to energise economic rebalancing.

And other exciting events are advancing the Northern innovation agenda. The region's VentureFest events have recently provided a great meeting place for academic and business around new ideas and opportunities. Tech North’s Northern Stars events have been running across the North, and are delivering a new platform for the best new Tech companies to be recognised for their innovations. Momentum is definitely building in Northern innovation.

In this newsletter, we showcase just a few examples of N8 researchers working in close collaboration with practitioners and external experts to deliver impact. I hope you will see interesting stories that you will follow up on. Please feel free to contact me for more information, or to get involved in our programs.

Dr Peter Simpson
Director, N8 Research Partnership

Innovation event can inspire future Northern collaboration

Northern academic and local enterprise leaders met with government officials at the University of Leeds to discuss the region’s strengths, and to plan future innovation and collaboration strategies across the North of England.

Read more about the inaugaural event here.

Regener8 at MEIbioeng15: Quality translational science and career coaching delivered

This year’s conference allowed Regener8 to showcase its strengths within the framework of MEIbioeng15: the largest ever UK gathering of biomedical engineers, bioengineers and medical engineers.

Mike Raxworthy gives an overview of the event at Leeds University.

Inaugural N8 Policing Innovation Forum addresses the fight against cybercrime

Senior figures at N8’s Policing Innovation Forum agreed that collaboration between the police service and academia is paramount if the UK is to fight effectively the growing threat of cybercrime.

Find out more about the outcomes of the event here.

N8 HPC Network Event encourages cross discipline collaboration

The N8 HPC and Insigneo held a joint Network Event on 30th October focussing on the thriving area of Multiscale Computational Mechanics.

Find out more about this event as part of an ongoing series of collaborative Network Events organised across N8.

Harness the Powerhouse for Advancing Life Sciences Collaborations

Peter Simpson talks to Regen magazine about the N8 universities’ strengths in life sciences, the changing face of industry’s relationship with academia, and how deep collaboration can deliver real impact.

Read the abridged article here.

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