ENGAGEMENT AND IMPACT
The next decade will see dramatic changes in the way people work, learn, and live.
As a civic university, grounded in the communities around us, we will be central both to shaping and responding to these changes. We will provide a model of how a global university can create meaningful change in the world, demonstrably improving the economy, society, and the environment, and contribute to human health and wellbeing. We already have unique innovation assets, cultural venues, international reach, and creative capacity. We will draw on these to maximise the difference we make to individual lives and society.
We aim to build partnerships that connect our research and education activities and translate our expertise into real-world outcomes. Our partners will know us as an engaged and relevant university, which is easy to work with and understands their needs. Through collaboration, we will tackle the key challenges of the next ten years, including inequality and exclusion, global health threats, climate change, the management and regulation of emerging technologies, and the fourth industrial revolution. We will shape regional, national, and international agendas, and anticipate and respond to the challenges of the future.
All members of our community, from students to professors and members of the Professional Services, will be proud of and actively contribute to the many ways in which the University makes a difference to the world around us. Our Birmingham in Action campaign will allow us to draw on our extensive and influential alumni community to enhance our impact.
Read our Birmingham 2030 goals
See our key priorities
Discover our case studies
Our Birmingham 2030 goals are to:
Become the best university in the UK for innovation, capitalising on our distinctive breadth of disciplines and innovation sites
Actively engage our local communities to enhance our education and research
Equip our students to make a difference in the world throughout their lives
Underpinning these goals are our key priorities
Birmingham Energy Capital
Our key priorities will be:
Maximising the benefits we draw from our major sites and assets
Using our wide disciplinary breadth, we will take full advantage of these assets to attract talented academics, work with strategic partners, translate excellent research into innovations and practical solutions, and grow our global reputation. Major assets include: Birmingham Health Innovation Campus; The Exchange; Birmingham Institute of Forest Research; Manufacturing Technology Centre; High Temperature Research Centre; Shakespeare Institute; Barber Institute; Tyseley Energy Innovation Park; and the University of Birmingham Dubai.
Incorporating impact from the outset of all our major initiatives and research programmes
From research grants to new buildings and venues, investment in academic capacity, and curriculum design, we will embed engagement in research, draw connections between research and education, and grow our research commercialisation. We aim for every researcher to have the tools and a vision for how their research will matter to others, both now and in the future. We will support strong pathways from ideation and discovery to translation and delivery in areas such as Quantum Technologies and Bio-medical Engineering.
Creating a wide range of opportunities for our students to make a difference locally, nationally, and internationally
We will support development of the skills required for fulfilling careers, and to lead, shape and solve the world’s pressing challenges. We will draw on our size and academic breadth to provide opportunities across all disciplines for internships and placements, and our student incubator hub at The Exchange will enhance opportunities for student enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Seizing major engagement opportunities for Birmingham, Dubai and our other locations
We will use events such as the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Global Challenges Forum, and the Dubai Expo to maximise visibility and benefit for the University, our students, research, and the city more generally. We will work with the city to attract and shape future major events that have a global impact.
Engaging and working with our highly diverse local communities
Our campuses, assets and venues will be open places for collaboration with our partners, with a focus on active engagement of communities and the public. Through our Birmingham in Action campaign, we will support staff and students to volunteer one million hours. We will provide our academics with resources, opportunities and inspiration to help them develop new and exciting ways to engage the public with their work.
Working across disciplinary boundaries to make it easy to engage with the broad expertise of the University
Our academic expertise and voice will be recognised by potential partners and policy-makers as providing an essential ‘one stop shop’ for work across disciplines and sectors. We will be a university that contributes to the evidence-base in a broad range of policy areas, develops solutions to challenges, and creates and commercialises new intellectual property. We will shape public debate and policy to address regional, national, and global challenges.
Artist's impression of the Birmingham Health Innovation campus