The Partnership to transform university knowledge exchange metrics funding opportunity invites applications from eligible organisations to partner with Research England as national knowledge exchange metrics advisors, spearheading the design of next generation knowledge exchange data, metrics, and insights in areas of strategic national policy importance. This grant supports an ambitious partner to lead the creation and delivery of new innovative outputs that will ultimately drive sector best practice and Research England policy.

Overview

Research England, on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, is leading a national knowledge exchange metrics programme to design and deliver next generation knowledge exchange measures. This programme aims to strengthen the UK knowledge exchange ecosystem by providing better insights for universities, creating a consistent and transparent national evidence base, and enabling more targeted, impact-driven policy and funding decisions. The successful applicant will serve as a leading expert unit or consortium that designs and exploits novel knowledge exchange data tools to drive development in policy and practice toward UK-wide growth and prosperity.

Funding and Benefits

Total fund: £5,000,000

Funding type: Grant

Up to £5 million is available for one successful application over a five-year funding period from January 2027 until the end of March 2032. Funding is expected to be primarily revenue. Capital costs, if applicable, must be clearly justified and essential to delivery, and may include activities such as purchasing specialist data or system licences. Research England expects costs and activities to be fully justified by need and evidence and to demonstrate value for money.

Eligibility

To be eligible for Research England funding, providers must:

• be registered with the Office for Students in the approved (fee cap) category of the OfS register
• be undertaking research and related activities, including knowledge exchange
• have research activity with the principal aim of creation of new knowledge which is made freely available to all

Under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, applications are also invited from organisations that can evidence strong expertise in knowledge exchange and knowledge exchange commercialisation metrics, knowledge of Research England, wider UK Research and Innovation funding functions, and knowledge exchange and commercialisation policy. Applications may be collaborative or independent. Only eligible English higher education providers and organisations can lead applications.

Research Areas and Activities

The next phase of the Knowledge Exchange Metrics Programme aims to enhance the quality, breadth, and usefulness of knowledge exchange data and evidence across the UK higher education system. Within knowledge exchange and specific priority domains specified by Research England, the work is likely to include:

• novel research to characterise success in a variety of domains to form the basis of future metrics
• design of new knowledge exchange and commercialisation metrics suitable for institutional decision-making, integration into institutional funding methods, and assessment of the impact of public funding
• devising conceptual frameworks that relate to system-wide data and use for policy
• design and prototyping of new datasets and data architecture suitable for system-level collection
• working with national agencies to deliver new national data products that reflect national standards
• use of emerging technologies and AI-based approaches to metric design, analysis, and insights
• data analysis to produce rich insights, including from new datasets
• deep evidence studies, including to inform policy
• international comparisons and benchmarking studies
• convening expert groups, data leaders, and data users
• commissioning of wider expertise and projects as needed
• production of accessible and actionable advice and recommendations to Research England

Expected domains of focus include designing new pilot data collection tools beyond the annual HE-BCI survey, creating novel metrics for local economic development and regional growth contributions, identifying university knowledge exchange contributions across Industrial Strategy priority sectors, characterising growth contributions for university-business partnerships, developing exploration of data to capture different actors involved in knowledge exchange, and supporting UKRI's mission through effective system characterisation and monitoring.

Across commercialisation data, the work includes improving national university patent and wider IP datasets, improving national spinout datasets, creating a programme to characterise student entrepreneurship, and devising improved indicators of success based on academic rigour and deep domain expertise.

Application Process

Applications must be completed using the Business case submission guidance and template provided in the additional information section. Completed templates must be sent to kemetrics@re.ukri.org. The completed document must not exceed 15 pages. All sections of the document must be completed.

The assessment process includes an eligibility check, an expert panel review, and an in-person interview at the Research England office in Bristol for shortlisted applicants. Interviews are expected to take place during the weeks of 7 and 14 September 2026. Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria may request feedback at the end of the assessment period.

Deadline and Timeline

Publication date: 13 May 2026

Opening date: 13 May 2026 9:00am UK time

Closing date: 22 July 2026 12:00pm UK time

Applications must be submitted via email to kemetrics@re.ukri.org by 22 July 2026 at 12:00pm UK time. Applicants should be aware of and follow any internal deadlines that may be in place.

Contact Information

For enquiries about this funding opportunity, contact Louise Wall, Head of Strategic Projects and Partnerships, or Rhiannon Hails, Senior Policy Adviser, at kemetrics@re.ukri.org. Include Funding Finder: Knowledge Exchange Metrics in the subject line. Responses can be expected within three working days.