The head of Newcastle University has been chosen as the next chair of leading university body N8 Research Partnership.
The N8 is the collaboration body for the universities of Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and York, which aims to maximise the impact of its collective research base to help business innovation and societal transformation.
Prof Day, vice-chancellor and president of Newcastle University, will take over the role as chair of N8’s board of directors from Prof Mark Smith, from Lancaster University, from August 1.
Among Prof Day’s responsibilities will be overseeing strategic research collaborations with business and public sector research users, as the N8 continues to build innovation communities around the themes of Clean and Productive Businesses, and Child of the North.
He will also ensure strategic engagement with Government officials, industry, research funders and other stakeholders, working closely with the vice-chancellors and pro vice-chancellors of research of the other N8 universities, as well as N8 Director, Dr Annette Bramley.
He said: “I am delighted to take this role and continue the work of my predecessors and most recently Mark Smith.
“The strength of N8 lies in our excellence in collaboration, pooling our talent and expertise to help make a real difference to the lives and work of businesses and people in the North of England and beyond. Our research strengths and partnerships with business and industry are producing innovative thinking, creating new jobs and contributing to tackling the major issues of our time.
“It’s an exciting time for N8 with recent decisions to widen our scope, following wide-ranging and in-depth consultation, and lend our capabilities to investigate Clean and Productive Businesses and Child of the North and look for areas where there is the greatest potential for added value through collaboration between partner universities and with stakeholders in the region.
“Together we aim to enhance our growing reputation in playing an increasingly vital role in ensuring that the power and influence that we eight universities have is developed and translated into lasting economic benefit.
“That means continuing to build on relationships with public and private sector organisations and with funders while forging new ones both within the N8 and beyond, here and overseas.”
