N8 Research Partnership
The N8 Research Partnership is a collaboration of the eight most research intensive Universities in the North of England: Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.
N8 have 4 data science intensive areas of research - aligned with LIDA’s research community (Societies, Health and Environment) and methodological programme themes - which LIDA will be actively supporting the Universities data scientists to collaborate with other universities, industry and society on for societal benefit:
- Child of the North
- Computationally intensive research
- Net Zero North
- Policing Research Partnership
Case study: Child of the North – Universities should be the engines of creativity and innovation for public services
At present, universities – and the world-class research, and researchers they produce – are disconnected from the societies they live in and alongside. The Child of The North consortium, led by the N8+ (a partnership of the eight most research-intensive and associated universities in the North of England) has developed two initiatives to build relationships and systems that can hardwire universities into education, health, housing, social care, policing, and other public service systems and the benefits this can produce:
The Born in Bradford Centre for Applied Education Research (CAER) led by Professor Mark Mon Williams, Centre for Applied Education Research, [Online]. Available: https:// caer.org.uk/ ;
The Child Health Outcomes Research At Leeds (CHORAL) programme, led by Professor Adam Glaser and Professor Richard Feltbower, Available: https://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/a-z-of-services/leeds-childrens-hospital-clinical-research-team/choral/.
LIDA will be supporting University of Leeds researchers and N8 consortium to take forward three key recommendations made as part of the report prepared for the Child of the North All Party Parliamentary Group (Mon-Williams, M., Wood, M. L., et al. (2023). Addressing Education and Health Inequity: Perspectives from the North of England. A report prepared for the Child of the North APPG),
- The methodology used by the Centre for Applied Education Research (CAER) and Child Health Outcomes Research At Leeds (CHORAL) should be rolled out across the North of England to bring public organisations together to improve outcomes for children and young people.
- Regional universities and public service organisations should work together to create a positive and inclusive network of R&D departments across the North of England. These departments should be represented on public boards to ensure decisions are based on the best possible evidence.
- Universities should be hardwired into programmes from inception so that investments can be properly evaluated and learning what does and doesn’t work can be disseminated more effectively at a national level.