N8 leaders make the voice of the North heard in Parliament
Key figures from the N8 Research Partnership have highlighted to an audience of MPs and government decision-makers the contribution northern universities make to innovation and the economy.
The N8 Partnership includes the Universities of Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York. Its newly-appointed chair, Koen Lamberts, led a call for major investment in research and innovation in the North, better infrastructure, and support for collaboration between academia and the public and private sectors.
He said: "The North has distinctive research strengths that can be translated into innovation-led growth, taking the region towards an economic future built on world class research centres. However, Northern innovation ambitions will need national government support to turn them into reality. The N8 Research Partnership can serve as a coherent regional voice alongside national government about the exciting potential of an innovation-led economy for the North."
The event provided an opportunity for Leeds to showcase its pioneering research collaboration led by Professor Adam Crawford with Northern police forces and police and crime commissioners, and Professor David Hogg spoke about how N8 High Performance Computing is supporting business innovation.
Professor Hogg said: "Leeds is centrally involved in the activities of N8. Colleagues are playing a leading role in key parts of the principal N8 research themes of Agri-Food and Urban & Community Transformation, and we are also helping to explore new N8 communities in the Bioeconomy, Targets for New Medicine, and Digital Creativity. Now is a very good time to get involved if you see opportunities for your own research within these broad areas."
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