Think local, go national

Getting involved in the local economy is good for university researchers, their students and their institutions. Jon Rimmer describes how reaching out to business led to a role at the heart of digital government.

In the past, larger universities relied on their Research Assessment Exercise ratings, based mainly on the quality of their research outputs, for the majority of their income.

Nowadays, an increasingly large slice of most universities’ income is generated from student fees. This will change how universities are run, as students become more active consumers and exercise their customer rights regarding the ‘services’ they receive. Offering students more opportunities will become more important than ever.