Research- making an impact

World-class university research is an invaluable resource supporting the growth of new and existing knowledge-intensive businesses in the UK and worldwide. There is strong evidence that considerable benefits have flowed to the economy from sustained public investment in excellent research. 

Russell Group universities are highly effective and successful in the commercial exploitation of their research. According to a recent survey by the UK Innovation Research Centre academics at Russell Group institutions are more likely to have taken out a patent, licensed their research to a company or formed a spin-out than academics at other UK institutions.

This performance is backed up by information from the 2009 Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HEBCI) survey for 2007-08 which shows that:

• Whilst the 20 Russell Group universities comprise around 12% of the UK’s universities, they recorded 64% of the total HE sector income from Intellectual Property in 2007-08
• The total estimated annual turnover from companies ‘spun out’ from Russell Group universities was £724 million, 70% of the total for the whole of the HE sector
• Active spin-outs from Russell Group universities accounted for 58% of those which had survived for 3 years

There is a wealth of examples where original research undertaken at Russell Group universities has led to significant economic returns and wider social benefits. (See select case studies on the left.)