This article was first published by Research Professional on 17th November, 2024

Earlier this month, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, told university vice-chancellors that far greater collaboration was needed across the sector to drive efficiency. She suggested this would be part of a full-scale reform of the sector.

But universities have long been working together for their mutual benefit. Last month, I relaunched the White Rose University Consortium with a renewed mission to enable individuals from all backgrounds to thrive across the three partner universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York.

In December 2023, when I assumed leadership of the consortium, I inherited a rich 27-year legacy of research collaborations, spin-out companies, doctoral training programmes and library partnerships, which showed the consortium’s remarkable ability to adapt to the evolving needs of the three partners.

The institutions share similar research interests and hold comparable standings in the sector, while their proximity enables people to move between them for career reasons without having to uproot from their communities.

This has been key to the relaunch of the consortium. The vice-chancellors of the three partner universities–Charlie Jeffery at York, Koen Lamberts at Sheffield and Shearer West at Leeds–are keen that it should support career development and a shared labour market across their institutions.

Diverse missions

Similar consortiums are driving change in higher education across the UK, both regionally and on a national scale. While each consortium is regionally based, their missions are diverse and far-reaching. While many foster and promote research collaborations, their contributions extend far beyond this.

Often, they advocate for specific groups. For example, Midlands Innovation (Aston, Birmingham, Cranfield, Keele, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick) has elevated the profile of technicians; GW4 (Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter) has recently published a report urging the government to address the gap in childcare support for postgraduate students; and both N8 (Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York) and Eastern ARC (East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex) have shone a light on the development needs of mid-career academics.

They also support UK-wide initiatives such as the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Hub+, with both GW4 and White Rose serving as partners in this effort. This work is fostering positive research cultures across institutions and has the potential to significantly contribute to the people, culture and environment element of REF2029.

Economic growth

Meanwhile, consortiums play a crucial role in driving economic growth and research-led change across the UK. Earlier this year, Midlands Innovation launched a £3 million campaign to attract global R&D investment into the region. Yorkshire Universities, bringing together 12 higher education institutions, has established the Research England-funded Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement and Research Network (Y-PERN) to influence regional and national development by engaging policymakers. And the N8 Child of the North project is urging the government to address the crisis in preschool provision that means many children are arriving at school unprepared to learn.

Adding value

One size does not fit all. Each consortium varies in the number of partners and its specific focus, but all add value to their partner institutions in their own way.

All three of White Rose’s partner universities are members of two other highly successful regional consortia: Yorkshire Universities and the N8 Research Partnership. White Rose therefore needs to complement the work of these others while carving out a unique role.

Its aim is to deliver practical solutions that complement existing efforts across career development to support professional services colleagues and researchers, from postgraduates to academics. The consortium’s career development programmes include the flagship Equity in Leadership, co-created with global staff to foster diversity in higher education leadership, the Crucible, which brings together early career academics to create interdisciplinary opportunities, and the Prosper Cohort, which supports postdocs to proactively manage their career development within a supportive community. For this, it has used resources developed by an initiative of the N8 Research Partnership.

To support a shared labour market, White Rose is strengthening communities across its partner institutions. It has launched a Community Fund to help build networks and has created a searchable database of colleagues to foster a sense of belonging and connection throughout the region. It has also identified strategic themes to explore in the coming months, which present opportunities for collaborative work, sharing best practice, and pooling resources, with the ultimate goal of sharing findings with the wider sector.

Finding a niche

Consortiums certainly have a place in higher education and can add significant value to their individual partners, but to reach their full potential and contribute to sectoral, regional and national agendas they must find a niche that aligns with their partners’ needs. A genuine desire to collaborate across the partners is also essential

If they manage this, they could have an increasingly important role to play. They allow partners to look beyond their own institutions and work with their closest neighbours on shared areas of interest, they help foster creativity, pool ideas and resources, and find innovative solutions to universal problems. Given the financial constraints the sector faces, highlighted in the recent report from the Office for Students, such collaborations and ways of working are likely to be the future.

Karen Hinxman is head of the White Rose University Consortium.