The Innovation, Impact and Business (IIB) Heritage Lead is your point of contact for initial enquiries and feedback. 

For useful resources, information about current projects, and details of sector-relevant events and opportunities, seminars, lectures and workshops, please take a look at our News and events. Additionally, a calendar of University-wide events, some of which are open to the public, can be found here.

We collaborate with organisations at all levels – regional, national and international. In the current funding and policy climate, there is a growing need for co-working, co-production and taking an interdisciplinary approach. Our Heritage Network is well placed to broker relationships between the sector and the University, and is a valuable tool for facilitating partnership collaborations.

To discover the ways in which we can collaborate with you, visit our Exeter Innovation page.

As a research organisation, we are judged on the new knowledge that we co-create and the impact this research achieves (aligned to the Research Excellence Framework – a system for measuring the quality of research in UK Higher Education Institutions). To this end, we work closely with our collaborative partners to ensure the research outcomes are world-leading. 

• Project proposals and development will be treated in confidence and, where necessary, Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) can be drawn up to protect partner interests.
• To fund such research partnerships, we primarily seek to co-apply for funding with partners to research councils, trusts and charitable bodies with relevant calls.
• In more limited instances, there may be internal funds that we can co-apply to access and will guide you through the appropriate process. Match funding by partners will strengthen such bids.
• Where partners are applying to fund specific projects themselves and wish to incorporate academic services/research into their bid, we will try to offer in-kind contributions if possible, but for most robust applications, it is advisable to allocate a budget. This may involve costing a piece of contract research or consultancy work into your bid, for which the University can provide a quote.
• Letters of support can also be provided to partners with bids that are aligned to the University’s research agenda and where we can add value.

Our students are a valuable resource for our partners; similarly, we consider practitioner input to be vital in translating graduate skills and potential to applied-sector practice. The University has a role to play in developing ‘continuing professional development’ (CPD) alongside the heritage sector. Find out more about placements/internships and PhD studentships.

We welcome the opportunity to co-create projects with external partners from an early stage, so that goals and outcomes can be defined collaboratively, and consideration can be given to mutual interests from the outset. 

Co-created projects and subsequent grant applications to fund them can lead to more creative and innovative ideas, as well as reduced project costs by sharing resources, facilities and capabilities. Co-creating projects from an early stage also helps to align timescales, expectations and partner KPIs, and fosters an environment of inclusive engagement.