Case Studies

Celebrating the impact of OU research with industry

The Research, Enterprise and Scholarship Unit (RES) at The Open University (OU) is delighted to share three booklets which showcase impactful Knowledge Exchange activities from across the university.

The booklets cover industry collaborations and pioneering development around the themes of partnerships, enterprise and industry, and digital innovation with four academic project spotlights in each. The profiles highlight the research strengths of the OU and their step into practical application and impact. They also celebrate the outstanding work many OU colleagues are engaged in.

Our academics work on a huge range of diverse projects from supporting the Scotch whisky industry to developing technology for assistance dogs. Did you know that the OU built the world’s largest, most comprehensive aggregator of open access research papers (CORE) and that more than 200,000 people engaged in our nQuire citizen science platform in spring 2020 to report their ‘Gardenwatch’ to the BBC? nQuire recently won the Guardian University Award 2020 for its 'Research Impact'.

Knowledge Exchange (KE) is central to The Open University’s social mission and is a growing source of diversification of income for many universities. It benefits the OU through its own impact and income and is also reported to the government via the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey, which releases another financial allocation yearly. Through its unique relationship with the BBC, its activity across four nations and the focus on life-long learning the OU has many unique strengths in KE.

Many of the OU’s KE projects include external partners and the booklets were produced by RES in the hope that they may inspire future external collaborators to join forces with OU research staff. The team also hopes that spreading the word about the rich effects of OU research will encourage other OU academics to take up the mantel and investigate the practical applications of their investigations.

You are welcome to share the booklets in your own networks.

Find out more about research, impact and KE at the OU 

Booklets

Enterprise to support industry and charities

Find out how we are enabling aid agencies and charities to access affordable, high-quality staff training anywhere in the world, adapting chemical analysis tools developed for space missions and developing technology to make life better for assistance dogs and their owners.

Digital innovation for learning

Find out how we are combining technology and creativity to remove hidden barriers to learning, providing fast access to the most relevant data across the world and developing brand new approach to supporting students and their institutions through the study journey.

Partnerships to benefit society

Find out how we are working with Scotland’s care homes to deliver life enriching interventions, are working with the wearable technology industry to help people across Europe with active and healthy ageing and breaking the silence around abortion.