What is Knowledge Exchange and how can it benefit your research?

The purpose of Knowledge Exchange is to help bridge the gap between academic research and wider society, ensuring that research can be translated into positive change beyond academia. 

Knowledge Exchange should flow in both directions, from Universities to wider communities and back to capture feedback and input that researchers need to use to develop and enrichen their research. This can involve talking to a variety of groups, such as policy-makers, non-governmental organisations, businesses and community groups, and by using a range of channels, such as events, briefings, meetings, the media and social media.

Agnes Hoctor is the Knowledge Exchange Coordinator for the Margaret Anstee Centre (MAC) with a focus on identifying key audiences and communicating research to influence policy development and impact.

Agnes recently ran a training session titled "Introduction to Knowledge Exchange" for colleagues here at Newnham College, University of Cambridge as well as other researchers from across the University. She shares some of the main outputs from the training and recommendations on how sharing knowledge can be of benefit, for the individual and beyond. 

The training presented an opportunity for participants to think about the key messages of their research, how they might refine and frame these messages in their external work and to consider which non-academic audiences could be most relevant to engage with.

Opportunities to share ideas, research evidence, experiences and skills, come in many forms such as policy engagement, public engagement and commercialisation, amongst many others. The goal of knowledge exchange is to create better research that meets the needs of real-world challenges and increases understanding about a field of work.

It is crucial to think about this as a two-way process - if done properly then you the researcher should be learning as much through the exchange as the person or group that you are talking to. These knowledge exchange activities are highly valuable in themselves, as well as being an enabler of impact, something to bear in mind as the Research Excellence Framework 2029 starts to come into focus.

Taking part in training, saying yes to new opportunities and working with people in knowledge brokerage roles, will help build your networks and the visibility of your work. Here at Cambridge there are organisations who place engagement and brokerage at the heart of what they do, such as the Centre for Science and Policy, Bennett Institute for Public Policy and Cambridge Enterprise as well as key teams within the central University including the Public Engagement Team and Research Strategy Office, and those working in knowledge exchange, communication and event roles in the Colleges and Departments.

Researchers at Cambridge are lucky to sit within such a busy and vibrant eco-system. Whether you are lunching at High Table in your College or attending one of the thousands of public events and lectures hosted throughout the University, you will find yourself talking to someone interesting and possibly relevant to your own work, now or in the future. 

Of course, you don't have to be within the walls of the University to network - you can find yourself chatting with a Pro-Vice-Chancellor when you drop your children at the school-gate, or an entrepreneur with a new spin-out company when you are exercising in the gym. The importance of networking, the long-term commitment to building your personal brand and research profile, is demonstrated by many of the amazing communicators we see championing research at Cambridge.