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Why Keele?

“Once you’ve been here for even just a week, you’ll never want to leave!”

The Keele University Research Strategy is a University strategy that reflects and supports the University Strategic Plan 2011-2015, in particular:

Strategic Aim 1: to be a broad-based University of about 10,000 students, recognised internationally for excellence in education and research

Strategic Aim 3: to deliver international excellence and impact in focused areas of research

The underpinning strategic objectives as a research-led University are:

to focus our research effort in areas of theoretical, applied, and practice-based research where we can achieve the highest levels of quality and impact
to foster innovation and enterprise with partners

Research-related Key Performance Indicators

Research Excellence Framework: To ensure a high level of performance in the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF)
Research grant income: To improve the University’s performance in securing research income year-on-year (increasing research grant income levels by 70% and net overhead recovery rates by 25% from 2009 levels by 2015).
Research students: to significantly increase research student numbers year-on-year (increasing by 70% from 2009 levels by 2015).

Quality

To deliver research of the highest quality, recognised internationally for its excellence
To demonstrate our research excellence by performance in the Research Excellence Framework, research grant successes, publications and outputs, international collaborations and partnerships
To continue to raise the ambition of our research as a research-led University, and our external profile and reputation nationally and internationally
To produce postgraduate research students of the highest quality

Impact

To have significant social, cultural, environmental and economic impact, working with external partners and collaborators to benefit society
To effectively communicate our research successes regionally, nationally and internationally to promote our distinctive contribution, raising our external profile and reach
To foster innovation and enterprise engaging with business and external partners
To advance knowledge through high quality independent research and academic enquiry, disseminating our research through high quality publications and external media, internationally and nationally
To foster relationships with research users and external stakeholders to facilitate the dissemination, impact and promotion of research outcomes
To have significant social, cultural, environmental and economic impact, working with external partners and collaborators to benefit society
To effectively communicate our research successes regionally, nationally and internationally to promote our distinctive contribution, raising our external profile and reach
To foster innovation and enterprise engaging with business and external partners
To advance knowledge through high quality independent research and academic enquiry, disseminating our research through high quality publications and external media, internationally and nationally
To foster relationships with research users and external stakeholders to facilitate the dissemination, impact and promotion of research outcomes

Focus

To focus our research effort in areas of theoretical, applied, and practice-based research of international excellence
To promote and develop Keele’s distinctiveness, in particular in our over-arching themes of Ageing, Sustainability and Health
To actively promote interdisciplinary research and emerging disciplines
To use research management to clearly identify and promote our research strengths

Resources

To provide the infrastructure and support systems to fully support research excellence and maximise its impact
To provide the facilities and structures to support our significantly expanding postgraduate research community
To ensure that research is funded by a balance of HEFCE QR income and a diverse range of external funding bodies
To promote Keele’s external research profile nationally and internationally
To maximise the visibility and impact of Keele’s research by promoting use of and access to the institutional repository
To demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness to the constantly changing external contexts