Research & Innovation Strategic Pillars

Purpose

Our approach is built on a purposeful balance between two core strengths: our foundational commitment to discovery-led research, and our agility in engaging with societal challenges and opportunities. This balance guides our interdisciplinary research initiatives and Innovation & Impact work, ensuring our research is both deeply rooted and directly relevant.

As a research-intensive university, our research-education nexus is a cornerstone of our institution. At its core, each discipline contributes its unique expertise to this ecosystem. This ensures our students don’t just absorb knowledge; they learn by engaging with the very questions, tools, and mindsets that define expertise in their field of study. Here, education is research-led, research-oriented, research-based, and research-informed while research is education-enriched.

Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives ⬇

Innovation and Impact ⬇

Research-Education Ecosystem ⬇

Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives

We will provide targeted, university-level support for interdisciplinary research areas with the greatest potential to define our global research and innovation leadership by 2030 and beyond. These initiatives are built upon a foundation of proven excellence across our faculties, demonstrated by outstanding research quality, significant funding success, and high-impact collaborations.

To achieve this ambition, we will categorise and support our research areas based on their current maturity and strategic trajectory:

Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives

We will provide targeted, university-level support for the interdisciplinary research areas with the greatest potential to define our global leadership in research and innovation by 2031 and beyond.

These initiatives are built upon a foundation of proven excellence, demonstrated by outstanding research quality, significant funding success, and high-impact collaborations.

Interdisciplinary initiatives amplify, rather than replace, departmental excellence, building on deep disciplinary expertise embedded within faculties. Acting as umbrella structures, they connect departments and bridge the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; Environment, Science and Economy; and Health and Life Sciences communities, creating dedicated spaces for collaboration and synergy across our research and innovation ecosystem, from institutes enabling world-leading discovery and challenge-driven research to agile networks and mission groups responding rapidly to external opportunities.

Each initiative makes a unique contribution to our interdisciplinary ambitions. Together, they function as complementary and enabling components of a cohesive and dynamic research and innovation ecosystem.

To achieve this ambition, we will categorise and support our research areas based on their current maturity and strategic trajectory:

Our Strategic Framework for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation

Research Strategic Initiative	Critical Features	Priority Activities
Research Institutes Global Leadership where we are already internationally recognised. Fortifying our world-leading reputation and proactively shaping global policy and research agendas.	Serve as beacons of research excellence with global reach and reputation, galvanising activity regionally, nationally and globally. Build and deliver strategic external partnerships driving innovation and accelerating impact across sectors and communities. Unite communities across HASS, ESE and HLS, open to all career stages, and welcoming dynamic contributions. Externally recognised as destinations of expertise. Attracts high levels of external funding and investment.	Reshaping our Research Institutes: We will ensure our Institutes are equipped to deliver world-leading, interdisciplinary research aligned with Strategy 2030 and our long-term research ambitions. We will consolidate existing internationally-recognised and University-wide strengths into a single climate and environment institute, meeting a need to build a greater critical mass to strengthen our international competitiveness in this space, building on the great success of the GSI and ESI in the previous strategy. We will launch a renewed bold vision for the Living Systems Institute, strengthening areas such as business engagement and innovation, and building on strengths in research excellence by continuing to support mid-career researchers and attract top talent.
Research Networks Areas of institutional strength aligned with EU and UK government priorities. Enhance visibility and agility to rapidly respond to challenges, seize opportunities, and influence agendas.	Established strengths in priority areas. 100+ researchers per community, from across all three Faculties, enabling contributions at all career stages. Space to pilot ideas and partnerships. Responds to national and international priorities, including the EU, UK government priorities and Industrial Strategy. Focused on developing partnerships, building communities, catalysing new research, and engaging with policy.	Revitalising our Research Networks portfolio: We will create a strategically aligned smaller portfolio of networks. Networks will be grouped around themes that help us respond to national and international priorities, including government missions, Industrial Strategy, and EU initiatives. Defined lifetime will enable us to build momentum, accelerate progress and deliver impact: three-year terms will allow networks to front-load ideas, focus plans, and work toward clear outcomes. End-of-term reflections will help determine whether a network continues, evolves, or makes space for new initiatives.
Mission Groups and Solutions Vehicles Agile, cross-university units formed to respond to fast-emerging external opportunities.	Provide rapid coordination and strategic direction to capture major, time-sensitive opportunities. Responds to a clearly defined external catalyst (e.g., government strategy, major funding call). Brings together academic and professional services leadership for an agile, unified response. Convened for a defined period to achieve a specific strategic outcome.	Mission Groups bring communities together to provide a fast-paced, coordinated and time-limited institutional response to a significant external opportunity or imperative. For example, under the auspices of the Defence, Security and Resilience Network, a mission group will be convened to focus on our strategic alignment and preparation for anticipated funding announcements on Defence Medicine. These groups will be formed on a needs-basis, bringing together academic leaders, professional services experts, and relevant external partners to align our capabilities, develop compelling proposals, and position the University as a leader in mission-critical areas. Once the immediate objective is met, the group will sunset or transition its functions to a relevant standing structure. Building on the ‘Green Futures Solutions’, we will expand “solutions” models where there is a demonstrable pipeline of activity that can be supported by consultancy and contract research capacity, where agile responses support customer need, enhance reputation and deliver margin.
Emergent Frontier Areas New, potential strategic fields nurturing and piloting nascent fields with future leadership potential. Provide dedicated road-mapping to validate potential and accelerate development.	Proven or potential research excellence and early momentum. Clear leadership potential and identifiable growth pathway. Nurtures next-generation strategic areas.	We will provide dedicated support to emerging interdisciplinary ideas by exploring and road-mapping new strategic fields. This may include direct road mapping support, in collaboration with Faculties, and support from the Complex Initiatives Fund or other seed investment opportunities, including support to build and test early external collaboration opportunities. The application process for this support will run on a rolling basis, as per the Complex Initiatives Fund.
Research Centres Championing faculty-based excellence and thematic collaboration. Groupings of researchers who are working with private or public sector organisations to tackle well-defined challenges.	Focused communities built around shared themes. Strengthen disciplinary depth and cross-team collaboration. Drive discovery, innovation, and sustained research impact.	Research Centres take an interdisciplinary approach across faculties and are coordinated by their home faculty. Faculty leadership will identify priority research areas that meet the established threshold for strategic Faculty investment as Research Centres.

Our Research and Innovation Ecosystem:

Deep Connections, Global Reach

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Infographic showing how elements are part of the research ecosystem

Revitalised Research Institutes:

We will implement the recommendations of the Institutes Review. Our Institutes will be the flagship vehicles for delivering significant, world-leading research activity, characterised by a clear, ambitious vision and groundbreaking research goals.

Dynamic Research Networks, Mission Groups and Solutions Vehicles:

Our Networks will be the engine for interdisciplinary engagement. They will catalyse new research partnerships, proactively pursue strategic opportunities aligned with national policy, and elevate the external visibility of Exeter’s trans-disciplinary critical mass in key areas, securing strong external collaborations. They should have a strong focus on “solutions” to partner challenges. They will need clear academic leadership.

Targeted Investment for Emergent Frontier Areas:

We will seek to provide dedicated funding to support emerging interdisciplinary ideas in exploring and road-mapping new strategic fields.

Innovation and Impact

Making a real difference in the world requires us to hold substantial, meaningful relationships with those organisations with the potential to change the world. Innovation happens when we take our research excellence, our talent, new ideas and discoveries, and transform them into practical products, processes, services and policies that can be used in the real world.

In that way we will harness our world leading research to positively impact partnerships with academia, business, government and charities to power transformative innovation, making a difference to our partners, communities and the world around us. We will achieve this by:

Innovation and Impact

Making a real difference in the world requires us to hold substantial, meaningful relationships with those organisations holding the potential to make change.

Innovation happens when we take our research excellence, our talent, new ideas and discoveries, and transform them into practical products, processes, services and policies that can be used in the real world. In that way we will harness our world leading research to positively impact partnerships with academia, business, government and charities to power transformative innovation, making a difference to our partners, communities and the world around us.

Pillar Activities

1. Driving Impact:

Proactively identifying potential impact for research and supporting our research community to develop pathways to impact and secure productive external relationships with partners through translational funding.

2. Collaboration with Industry, Government and Other External Partners:

Building our relationships with external partners to co-design research, develop technologies, deliver contract research and consultancy, solving real-world problems, and testing new ideas. Through our innovation programmes, knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs) are key mechanisms in the UK we engage partners to develop the solutions they need to thrive.

3. Research and Knowledge Creation:

Generating intellectual property (IP), which can be commercialised through patents, licenses, or spinouts. We support our researchers to commercialise their work.

4. Innovation Talent Development:

Educating and training our students and researchers to become innovators and entrepreneurs. We enable our students to gain real world experience through postgraduate programmes, internships, and industry placements to help bridge academia and practice.

5. Entrepreneurship and Spinouts:

Providing an environment in which researchers are encouraged and incentivised to commercialise their research through the development of new spinouts and through Intellectual Property (IP) and licensing activity. We actively support startups and spinout companies through our incubators, accelerators, and investment seed funding.

6. Regional Development:

As an anchor institution in our region, we attract investment and talent to support regional productivity and growth. We deliver support for local innovation ecosystems through place-based initiatives, such as the science park, innovation hub and our network of civic partnerships.

7. Policy and Thought Leadership:

Supporting our researchers to contribute to shaping innovation policy through research, advocacy, and participation in national strategies, through capacity building, hosting think tanks, policy labs, and public engagement platforms.

Two hands planting seeds into a planter full of soil

Research-Education Ecosystem

As a research-intensive university, our strength lies in the powerful connection between our education, research, and partnerships. We foster an integrated international learning community where continuous learning by staff and students fuels both discovery and teaching.

Students are at the heart of this ecosystem. Through inquiry-led learning, they learn about research and through their own research, becoming equal partners in discovery.

This foundation directly supports our long-term sustainability and impact. We are translating this synergy into direct value for employers by:

Research-Education Ecosystem

As a research-intensive university, our strength lies in the powerful connection between our education, research, and partnerships. We foster an integrated international learning community where continuous learning by staff and students fuels both discovery and teaching.

Students are at the heart of this ecosystem. Through inquiry-led learning, they learn about research and through their own research, becoming equal partners in discovery. This foundation directly supports our long-term sustainability and impact, for our students, for our academic community, and for our partners.

Pillar Activities

1. Deliver an Exceptional Student Experience:

Nurturing key qualities including intellectual enquiry, problem solving skills, entrepreneurship, digital literacy, cultural competence and global citizenship through research-engaged teaching and learning.

2. Engaging Students in Research Activities:

Enabling students from all backgrounds to be part of research and innovation activities, facilitated through philanthropic partnerships.

3. Upskilling the Workforce:

Leveraging our research to deliver practical, cutting-edge learning through Degree Apprenticeships, Executive Education, and CPD programmes, ensuring professionals have the latest skills to drive innovation.

4. Co-Creating with Partners:

Involving employers in co-designing and delivering curricula, ensuring our graduates develop the future-ready skills, including research literacy, that industry demands.

5. Curriculum for Change:

Our ambitious curriculum transformation embeds our excellent research directly into teaching and diversifies our portfolio to meet the evolving needs of students, partners, and the economy.

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