Academic Consultancy Service launched by Principal and VP for Economic Development & Innovation
Published: 18 February 2025
New service will make it ‘simpler and more efficient’ for University staff to drive impact through consultancy.
Collaboration is at the heart of the University’s first-ever Academic Consultancy Service, guests were told this week.
An invited audience marked the launch on Monday (February 17) of a new service that will transform how the University engages with external partners through academic consultancy.
The Academic Consultancy Service will provide academics with access to legal, financial, and administrative expertise including help with negotiations, contracts, and payments.
The significantly enhanced service will save staff valuable time and effort and allow them to focus on knowledge exchange and impact through consultancy.
An inspirational keynote address was given by Dr Amanda Zeffman, Head of Consultancy Services and Research Tools at Cambridge Enterprise, who shared her insights on the value of consultancy as a cross-pollinator of innovation and as a powerful tool to deliver impact on short timescales.
Uzma Khan, Vice Principal for Economic Development and Innovation and Deputy Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are thrilled to have launched the University’s first-ever Academic Consultancy Service, which is a significant milestone in our delivery on the University’s Innovation Strategy.
“The new service provides a step-change in our innovation support offering and underscores our commitment to share our world-leading research knowledge and expertise. By providing a gateway into the University for external organisations, consultancy catalyses meaningful partnerships, supports businesses and can deliver economic and societal impact at local, national and global scale.”
Dr Elspeth Elliott, Head of Academic Consultancy, said: “The launch of the University’s Academic Consultancy Service sets a new standard for how we support and enable our academics to deliver practical solutions and innovations to our clients through consultancy.
“The collaboration is not just with our academics and the partners they work with but with our colleagues across the University to deliver on our innovation ambitions.
“Our goal is to deliver excellent service levels grounded in an efficient and agile process to make the whole experience of undertaking consultancy simpler and more efficient for academics, allowing them to focus on making a difference.
“I look forward to working with our academic colleagues, schools, colleges and professional services partners to grow the University’s Academic Consultancy business.”
You can access full details about the new Academic Consultancy Service here: www.gla.ac.uk/consultancy
First published: 18 February 2025