Research outcomes of an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and BBC research partnership pilot call, the ‘Knowledge Exchange Programme’, are being showcased at an event in London on Monday April 27th.
 
Launched in early 2007, the Knowledge Exchange Programme was conceived as a way to bring together the arts and humanities research community with the BBC’s Future Media & Technology division to enable co-supported knowledge exchange and collaborative research and development. Departmental teams from the BBC partnered with universities across the UK to work on specific research topics.  The project was designed to give the BBC insight into their audiences outside the scope of in-house research, and give the academic community the benefit of unprecedented access to BBC archive material and internal data.
 
The event will also allow the various academic and BBC teams to explore the wider implications of the projects' findings and their recommendations for their respective communities as well as the future of the partnership itself.
 
The research outcomes are due to be published more widely shortly.

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Jake Gilmore, AHRC Communications Manager, j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk , Tel: 0117 987 6773

Editor’s notes:

About the BBC/ Arts & Humanities Research Council Knowledge Exchange Programme Project: Launched in early 2007, the Knowledge Exchange Project was conceived as a way to bring together the arts and humanities research community with the BBC’s Future Media & Technology division to enable co-funded knowledge exchange and collaborative research and development. Divisional teams from the BBC partnered with universities across the UK to work on specific areas.
 
About BBC Future Media Technology: The BBC’s mission is to develop distinctive content that educates, entertains and informs. The role of its Future Media & Technology division is to develop innovative ways to take that content to audiences via the internet, interactive TV and mobile services - helping audiences enjoy a seamless experience of BBC programmes, wherever they may be. FM&T also manages the BBC's broadcast and enterprise technology strategy, BBC research and development, and the BBC Archives.
 
About the Arts and Humanities Research Council: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute over a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.