KESS 2 & KESS 2 East : Information for Stakeholders 2023

With the end of Structural Funds fast approaching, KESS 2 and KESS 2 East will finish at the end of 2023. Both projects, funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) through the Welsh Government and led by Bangor University, have been hugely successful. They have built on the legacy of KESS 1 and, over the last 8 years, have expanded to offer fully funded research scholarships across the whole of Wales.

Through strong, well-established pan-Wales partnerships our projects have created an incredible legacy of PGR successes and have strengthened collaborative research links between academia and industry. This solid foundation gives us every reason to continue building on these successes, to further strengthen and expand these collaborative partnerships and develop Wales’s future academics, arming them with the skills they need to gain employment in an increasingly competitive market, whilst also embedding a research culture into SMEs all over Wales.

As both projects draw to a close, and our ESF budget comes to an end, we are facing the challenge of identifying the most successful aspects of the three KESS funded projects; KESS 1, KESS 2, and KESS 2 East, with a view

of focusing on the legacy of this ESF investment for Wales. The KESS funded higher-level opportunities have been high impact for Wales, so now is the time for us to thoroughly consider our next steps and how we can take this success forward along the same lines as a ‘KESS 3’ type model.

I thank you all, our stakeholders, for your continued support for the KESS 2 & KESS 2 East projects and I look forward to discovering how we can carry our legacy into the future, together.

Penny Dowdney KESS 2 Wales Manager

p.j.dowdney@bangor.ac.uk : 01248 382266

Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS 2) is a major pan-Wales operation supported by European Social Funds (ESF) through the Welsh Government. KESS 2 links companies and organisations with academic expertise in the Higher Education sector in Wales to facilitate collaborative research projects, which work towards a PhD or Research Masters qualification.

KESS 2 operates within the convergence area of West Wales and the Valleys, which covers; Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen.

ABOUT KESS 2 EAST

KESS 2 East was launched in January 2019 and both projects work in tandem and allow us to operate a Wales-wide coverage of PhD and Research Masters opportunities. Before KESS 2 East, we were only able to offer scholarships in the convergence area covered by KESS 2 alone. It is worth noting that KESS 2 and KESS 2 East are still separate projects, working from their own individual funding allocations, but both function on the same business model.

KESS 2 East operates within the east area of Wales which covers; Flintshire, Wrexham, Powys, Monmouthshire, Newport, Cardiff and The Vale of Glamorgan.

PAN-WALES COVERAGE

A range of companies and organisations can participate in KESS 2 and KESS 2 East, including Micro companies, SMEs, Large companies, Third Sector and Social Enterprises. Both projects are led by Bangor University and involve all eight universities in Wales. Following the first highly successful KESS project between 2009 and 2014, KESS 2 and KESS 2 East continue to build upon that success and will provide 858 scholarships over their respective durations across the whole of Wales.

QUICK STATS : KESS 2 (WEST)

£29.3m Project Funding 365 Company Partners 401 PhD’s 169 Research Masters

KEY OBJECTIVES

QUICK STATS : KESS 2 EAST

£9.5m Project Funding 127 Company Partners 125 PhD’s 46 Research Masters

• To increase the research capacity of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) by linking with a PhD or Research Masters project

• To encourage SMEs to undertake research and to recruit researchers

• To prepare and train individuals to contribute to research as professionals

• To support the development of key technologies across Wales

• To promote higher-level skills development

MEETING INDUSTRY NEEDS

KESS 2 projects are unique in that they are tailored to provide exciting and innovative research whilst meeting the needs of an active business or its sector. The research undertaken through a KESS 2 project must fit with one of the Welsh Government’s four Grand Challenge Areas: Life Sciences & Health; Low Carbon, Energy & Environment; ICT & the Digital Economy; Advance Engineering & Materials.

PROJECT ALLOCATIONS

The below charts show in more detail the combined total project allocations across the whole of Wales from both KESS 2 and KESS 2 East.

PhDs Research Masters

KESS 2 (West) 401 169 KESS 2 East 125 46 Total 526 215 Grand Total 741

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

Our equal opportunities monitoring across both PhD and Research Masters projects for KESS 2 and KESS 2 East report the following data:

PARTICIPANT INDICATORS

KESS 2 (West) KESS 2 East

Under the age of 25 314 80

Over the age of 54 11 7

Disability (not including limited condition) 33 16

Work limited health condition 8 4

Migrant EU 35 15

Migrant Non-EU 2 2

BAME 33 12

Welsh speakers 108 29

Care / childcare responsibilities 29 19

COMPLETERS

Figures are for KESS 2 (West) as of October 2020. From our completers, 227 participants (100%) are in employment following their participation with KESS 2. It is too early to report completers for KESS 2 East.

GENDER SPLIT

Participant gender split across both projects:

SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT

KESS 2 & KESS 2 East take steps to ensure that our team and all our partners consider sustainability in all our activities. We demonstrate this by giving meaningful consideration to the well-being of current and future generations in all that we do.

By adopting this innovative and logical approach to project management and delivery we are promoting the Welsh Government’s ‘Well-being of Future Generations Act (2015)’ which became law in April 2016.

During the lifetime of KESS 2 we have engaged in an active learning process to improve our understanding of what sustainability and well-being really means to us and our partners. We are enthusiastic about partnering with others who share the same vision and who are on a similar journey.

Leading on the Sustainability agenda with a team of Bangor University experts, KESS 2 has chosen this way of working to make a positive contribution to the Cross-Cutting Themes.

There are three cross-cutting themes defined for all ESF projects:

• Equal Opportunities, Gender Mainstreaming and the Welsh Language

• Sustainable Development

• Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion

Find out more about Sustainability with KESS 2 online at: kess2.ac.uk/ sustainability

PARTNERING WITH BUSINESS

Ryan Mowat, RS Aqua

For business owners and managers one of the greatest benefits is being able to focus skills towards a research area related to their business – something that is often not possible without costly additional resource.

The positive publicity and associations around these projects often mean that businesses have had an excellent return on their investment long before the research results are published, or their impact felt. Feedback from previous participants show that companies really value the link they build with the universities, and this has often led to other collaborations.

KESS 2 is a valuable opportunity to have a PhD or Research Masters student work on an area specific to a business.

There are many benefits for KESS 2 company partners including:

• Developing a research culture within their organisation

• Positioning their organisation as a voice of authority and market leader in their sector

• Testing claims, perceptions and experiences regarding their product, service, or brand

• Establishing and maintaining valuable links with their local university

• Attracting and supporting the development of new researchers in their company

• Taking advantage of the very low entry cost for the potential return the project could bring

“To remain on the pulse of R&D that’s going on in academia is really important for us because it allows us to look ahead and to see what technological solutions we need to provide for the future for these different research areas. And from a commercial perspective, it allows us to develop new products.”

COMPANY PARTNER MAP

KESS 2 has 453 companies on its database who have been actively involved with the project and 61% of organisations participating in KESS 2 are SMEs.

Our recently collated Company Partner Map illustrates the broad coverage of company partners we have collaborated with from across Wales to-date, with this number increasing as new projects are conceived and initiated.

The map itself is interactive and can be viewed in full at: kess2.ac.uk/a-z-company-partners/

“The KESS 2 grant was an excellent opportunity for us to bring on board a young researcher. It brings enormous benefits. We’re made aware of opportunities, new pieces of equipment, new elements of funding, changes in legislation and changes in the way the Welsh Government approach things. We become aware of these simply by the interaction.”

Dr Andy Pitman, Lignia Wood

HIGHER-LEVEL SKILLS

KESS 2 takes pride in preparing and training individuals to contribute to research as professionals. We also aim to promote higher-level skills amongst the Welsh Government’s priority R&D sectors hence there is a skills development element embedded in every KESS 2 scholarship. The Postgraduate Skills Development Award (PSDA), supported by an annual skills development budget, has been a very successful aspect of the KESS 2 project.

GRAD SCHOOL

The compulsory KESS Grad School offers participants the opportunity to work together with others outside of their research environment. This ‘cohort building’ has been much appreciated and is hugely beneficial. The Grad School looks at the business-facing side of the project and also incorporates the Sustainable Development training, in order for that to be a common thread throughout.

SKILLS FORGE

KESS 2 has also established a bilingual doctoral training and development portal through Skills Forge for use by all the participating universities whereby opportunities can be open to all involved in the project.

TRANSNATIONAL

Through the European Universities Association (EUA) we’ve established the European Industrial Doctoral School (E.I.D.S.), which means we can work with partner universities across Europe and offer transnational opportunities to our KESS 2 scholars and company partners.

ALUMNI NETWORK

In addition to this we also have a strong KESS Alumni network, comprising of scholars and company partners associated with the project over its operational years.

EVENTS AND AWARDS

KESS 2 has also hosted a series of Annual Events for participants, which took the format of a presentation competition and awards ceremony. Our annual events gave participants from all cohorts the opportunity to enter the competition and present their work to an audience as well as the chance to network with others within the project.

To find out more about events visit: kess2.ac.uk/category/events/

CASE STUDIES

KESS 2 regularly keeps in touch with its participant community and, over the duration of both projects, we have gathered a wealth of case studies. Ranging from researcher experiences to business testimonials to the view from academia, our text and video-based case studies illuminate the KESS 2 and KESS 2 East projects from a participant’s perspective. Our case studies and videos are all available to view on the KESS 2 website.

“Working with TATA enabled me to become familiar with the barriers faced by large companies when trying to reduce their impact on the environment. My research developed a biorefining process to take greenhouse gas emissions and convert them to chemicals for use in biopolymers and plastics.” - Dr Rhiannon Chalmers-Brown

“My project focused on engaging injured military veterans into physical exercise, focusing on both the physiological and psychological elements. Having a company partner to collaborate with on the PhD meant that I was able to access an in-built network of veterans to conduct my research.” - Dr Robert Walker

“Being based at the National Botanic Garden of Wales for my KESS 2 project provided a unique PhD experience with many benefits. This KESS 2 funded project has culminated in the publication of two research papers from my thesis, with a third in review and a fourth in preparation. I have also collaborated with other members of the Botanic Garden’s research team, contributing as a co-author to two further publications on honeybee foraging.” - Dr Abigail Lowe

“As a social enterprise it has been really helpful to be linked to Ellyse through the KESS 2 project. From the outset, Ellyse’s academic work has helped us to gain insight into our member’s motivations and for the team to better understand the young people with whom we work – enabling us to affect change in provision. We have been provided with unique information which has enabled us to shape our offer to engage with our members – and prospective members – more effectively, building upon previous pieces of work.” - Melissa Anderson, Managing Director, Valleys Gymnastics Academy

“The PhD has been influential in a range of projects that I have been acting as an advisor to. These include working with the Wellbeing of Future Generations Commissioner in assessing progress by the 44 compliant bodies in Wales toward the wellbeing goals and helping Social Care Wales to capture and share the lessons learned about community resilience during the first phase of the Covid 19 pandemic.” - Andrew Rogers

“I personally have a lot to thank KESS for, with regards to my academic achievements over the last 9 years, and I continue to this day to collaborate closely with the same industrial partner established all those years ago. A PGR funding support programme in Wales, working with industrial collaborators, is vital to keep home-grown research talent within the country.” - Dr Manon Pritchard

To browse our library of case studies visit: kess2.ac.uk/case-studies/ or kess2.ac.uk/alumni/alumni-videos/

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

There is much more to be discovered about KESS 2 and KESS 2 East online, via our website and through our social media channels. A list of useful links to informative resources can be found below. For full and comprehensive information about both projects and their relational aspects to each stakeholder category, visit the KESS 2 website at www.kess2.ac.uk

About KESS 2 : kess2.ac.uk/about

About KESS 2 East : kess2.ac.uk/east

Information for Companies : kess2.ac.uk/business

Information for Academics : kess2.ac.uk/academics

Sustainability with KESS 2 : kess2.ac.uk/sustainability

KESS 2 News and Publicity : kess2.ac.uk/category/news/

Twitter : @KESS_Central

LinkedIn : linkedin.com/in/kess-2-central/

Facebook : facebook.com/KESS2Central

GET IN TOUCH

If you have a question not answered in this booklet, or you wish to further discuss the future of KESS and how we can take our model forward, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Penny Dowdney : KESS 2 Wales Manager p.j.dowdney@bangor.ac.uk 01248 382266 : 07500662195