March 2019

Director's Update

As we move into the spring I am thinking of the Rudyard Kipling quote, that: “…gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade.” It’s a reminder for me to invest some effort now into my own garden if I want to enjoy its benefits later in the year. 

The same is true for research collaboration. We need to sow seeds and nurture them, we need to provide fertile ground and resources or they will wither.  We need to make choices about what to grow and to be patient - a strong plant will not be the one forced to grow too quickly in the same way as a strong research collaboration will not be one that is pulled together at haste.

Over the past nine months, the N8 team has been preparing the ground for the N8 Board and Strategic Executive Group to plant new collaborative seeds. Some of you will have helped us with this, either through participation at events, such as our advocates meeting, or through providing us with data and information.  We thank everyone who has helped, it has enabled a more robust and transparent process for decision making than ever before and we will reap the rewards of this in the fullness of time. 

This month we were able to make some decisions about the broad areas of focus for nurturing new N8 collaborations over the next 12-18 months.  Two very broad areas have been selected for further scoping; with the working titles of Clean and Productive Businesses and Child of the North.  Over the next few months the team will be planning and executing a number of scoping activities to better define the research questions within these topics, to look for the areas where there is the greatest potential for added value through collaboration between partner universities and with stakeholders in the region.

We are very keen to make sure that all disciplines are represented from the earliest stages of the discussions so that we can look at the broadest range of questions and draw on the most diverse talent pool.  Do get in touch with us if you are interested in contributing to the scoping activities or if you have ideas for research questions.  It is only by working together that we can realise the benefits of our critical mass of research excellence and the cohesion of strategic collaborations.  We are also happy to come out and talk with universities and groups and to listen to your perspectives so again do contact us if this would be of interest. 

And finally, we took the opportunity this month, with the arrival of the annual International Women’s Day celebrations, to spotlight and celebrate some of the fantastic talent within the N8 Research Partnership. Find about more about some of the women across the N8 universities and their outstanding achievements by following the #N8Women hashtag on Twitter and LinkedIn.

As always, you can keep up to date with the N8 research partnership on twitter (@N8research) and with me on twitter (AnnetteB_N8) or LinkedIn.  Do connect with us.