The KEF’s big questions are balance, fairness and funding

Prompted by our mock-KEF, Hamish McAlpine gives a progress report on Research England’s work on the Knowledge Exchange Framework.

When Research Fortnight’s sister publication HE published its mock league table for the Knowledge Exchange Framework on 10 April, my initial reaction was that it was a great example of what the KEF won’t be—and, to be fair, the article admitted as much. But I also felt it would be useful to give an update on Research England’s work towards the KEF, particularly around three important questions: balance, fairness and links to funding.

First, the KEF is taking a broad and balanced view of knowledge exchange. Commercialising research is valuable, but so are other forms of knowledge exchange.