1 yorkshire universities technical assistance (yuta) project and the esif good practice guide (gpg)...
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Yorkshire Universities Technical Assistance (YUTA) Project and the ESIF Good Practice
Guide (GPG)
2 December, Sheffield
Ian Rowe Sue Brownlow
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Yorkshire Universities represents 12 higher education institutions in Yorkshire:
Bradford, Hull, Huddersfield, Leeds, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Trinity, Leeds College of Art, Leeds College of Music, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, York, and York St John.
Why a Technical Assistance Project?• YU history of working with Structural Funds• To inform members about the new programme• Capacity to develop ideas/projects• Funding availability
Why a Good Practice Guide?• To capture good practice from the HE sector• Apply within the context of the 2014-2020 ESIF
About the Guide
• Practitioner-led• For leaders and senior
managers in Universities and LEPs
• Focused on the new ESIF programme
• Audience-led content
Topics covered• National perspectives• New programme overview• Good practice experience:
• Supporting innovation• SME engagement
• New opportunities:• Widening participation and
higher level skills• Student enterprise and
employability• Social innovation• Low carbon economy and
resource efficiency• Next steps
Strategic engagement:Four key aspects of good practice
• Strategic fit– Find the space where University strategy, Local Growth strategy and ESIF
priorities meet– Focus on outcomes not activities
• Partnering not bidding– Co-creation of the investment concept– With business, community and investment partners
• Operations not projects– Bundles of activity to address high level outcomes– Will usually require a collaborative approach
• Multi-level engagement– Internally and externally– Great communications– Strategic leadership is vital
Key features of successful R&D and Innovation projects
• Be clear about specialist niches in global R&D and innovation
• Focus on commercial growth, not just world-class R&D
• Encourage innovation sub-group of LEP or ESIF committee
• Work with business to develop and advocate the proposal
• Innovation Centres as a hub for innovation support, not just for tenants
• Link through to wide range of university support
• Promote and explain innovation to SMEs
• Charge market rents (or more)
Examples of SME Engagement supported by ESIF
Postgraduate programmes• KESS Wales• CUC Research• UHI Postgrad
research awards• Digital City
Fellowships (Teesside and partners)
• Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation
Graduate placements• Unlocking Potential
(Cornwall and South West)
• GO Wales• Graduate Recruitment
& Placements (Teesside)
• Graduate Entrepreneurship (Huddersfield and Yorkshire Universities partners)
Innovation Vouchers• Innovation University
Enterprise Network (Coventry, Wolverhampton)
• Scottish Innovation Vouchers
• Knowledge Action Network (Manchester Met and partners)
• Yorkshire Innovation Fund
• West Midlands Innovation Vouchers
Key features of successful SME engagement projects
• Long-term, joined-up strategy, through combined operations
• Local partnerships to offer single contact point to SMEs
• Part of Local Growth Hub offer
• Placements and postgraduates are attractive to new SMEs
• Use of simplified cost options
• Use of ESF
New Opportunities – key issues
Social innovation means social issues and socially inclusive process Opportunities for knowledge transfer and innovation in low carbon technologies
Focus widening participation & higher level skills on ESIF prioritiesEnterprise and employability -enhancements to mainstream undergraduate tuition
What might a Higher Level Skills Operation look like?
Integrated and multi-partner operation which:• Delivers targeted widening participation activity … demonstrate
how this clearly goes beyond mainstream University WP activity• Drives demand from SMEs for undergraduate, graduate and
postgraduate projects, provides a simple gateway and offers targeted subsidy … eg contributes to costs for first-time SMEs or collaborative postgraduate programmes in S3 areas
• Supports SME and institutional costs of developing new industry partnerships and innovative approaches to student employability involving employers … highly targeted on local skills shortages where student recruitment is the key barrier eg ICT
Next steps for Universities
• Senior representation on ESIF committee / Innovation sub-group (and use it)
• Informal agreement about Universities ESIF role• Focus – think operations• Consider new opportunities• Involve external partners in development of ideas• Communicate, in business language• Set up skilled team(s) to drive project
development
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Where next for YUTA?• Project identification and development – (agri-science, health innovation,
energy, manufacturing supply chains, SME innovation, high level skills)
Challenges• LEP engagement• Developing wider partnerships• Match funding
The Importance of a sector group• Sharing information and ideas• Creating solutions to shared challenges• A sector voice with government
Questions?