Published: 27 Sep 2023 | Last Updated: 27 Sep 2023 12:00:17

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has continued to score highly in the third iteration of the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF3), exceeding the peer average in some categories. This reflects the institution’s strengths in its research partnerships, projects to enhance local growth and regeneration, and its relationships with businesses, the public, and third sector organisations.

The KEF3 results assess higher education institutions (HEI) efforts to collaborate with non-academic partners. The process is important in providing HEIs with comparable information on performance for transparency and public accountability. The KEF3 results are also a useful source of information and data on HEI’s knowledge exchange activities, for the purposes of understanding, benchmarking and improving their own performance.

The RVC is categorised within the ‘STEM Cluster’ which groups specialist institutions covering science, technology, engineering and mathematics, often producing large amounts of quality research, particularly in bioscience, veterinary science, and engineering. The RVC was awarded the top two scoring categories for 10 out of the 16 identified measures. Within the highest quintile (very high engagement) was local growth and regeneration, research partnerships and working with business. It was also ranked as having high engagement in working with the public and third sector. In all three of these rankings, the RVC exceeds that of the STEM cluster average.

Jo Bailey, Head of Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation at the Royal Veterinary College, said:

“We are pleased to see that the RVC continues to be recognised for its research partnerships and engagement with commercial, public and third sector organisations, exceeding the average for such a specialist institution.”

Professor Oliver Pybus, Vice Principal for Research and Innovation and Professor of Infectious Diseases said: 

“These latest results from the UK Government’s Knowledge Exchange Framework again illustrate how successfully RVC researchers and staff are applying their expertise and discoveries to real-world issues.”

The RVC’s results highlight the emphasis the institution places on successfully translating clinical practice and research into new innovations and treatments. The RVC’s portfolio of collaborative research grants and contracts is reported to be £9.3 million for 2022/23. Recently awarded grant funding will enable RVC researchers to develop a first-of-its-kind organ-on-a-chip facility for veterinary species, technology that will help close important knowledge gaps and reduce the number of animals necessary for in-vivo testing.

Additionally, the RVC’s wholly owned subsidiary company, London Bioscience Innovation Centre Ltd (LBIC) will add a new facility to accommodate high growth biotechnology and life science companies close to the RVC’s Camden campus in 2024. The new 37,000 sq ft innovation space will be across four floors of the Apex Building, part of the Tribeca development which is currently under construction, and brings further industrial research collaboration opportunities to the RVC in the areas of animal human healthcare.

For more information about KEF3 and to explore the revised dashboard, please visit – https://kef.ac.uk/ 

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact:

• Jasmin De Vivo jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk

• Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
• It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
• The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
• The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.  
• The RVC is a research led institution with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
• The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.