2.
Serving local and international communities with needs-focused scholarship, knowledge transfer and community service
Knowledge Transfer (KT) refers to contributions to communities and professions through activities that disseminate our University-owned and research-based knowledge. It covers:
- (a) the application of theory and/or empirical research to professional practice;
- (b) policy research and/or research-based public engagement in topics and issues of policy relevance;
- (c) the creation of knowledge and innovation that would benefit the broader community; and
- (d) the organisation of activities that inform the general public of the relevance of our research.
KT activities are the key to the University’s pursuit of effective research and innovative scholarship that extends the knowledge frontiers of the education sector and benefits the wider community. Effective research and innovative scholarship have significant benefits only if and when the knowledge generated is shared with the community. The University will therefore continue to strongly encourage its academic staff to engage in a wide range of KT activities - such as commissioned/contract projects, consultancies, professional development courses, local or international professional conferences, professional seminars and workshops as well as participating in social, community and cultural events. To ensure that our high-quality, high-impact research and innovative scholarship benefit both the community and the school sector, we will:
- promote KT and enhance its quality by upgrading the existing KT Unit to a KT Office within the Research and Development Office;
- continue to raise the public profile of the University’s researchers and research output through the Research and Development Office and Library;
- strengthen University-Community relations with the development of new and extant regional, national and international partnerships;
- allocate KT funding to support and protect University-owned intellectual property by identifying strategic areas;
- further diversify KT activities into such areas as patent, licence and University-owned intellectual property;
- promote research with a social, educational and economic impact by documenting KT activities and research impacts then benchmarking them with those of the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF); and
- engage students in KT activities.
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