The annual Eastern ARC conference that brings together Kent, East Anglia and Essex universities took place on 17 November, marking the fourth event since the collaboration was formed.
The latest event was hosted by the University of East Anglia, based in Norwich, and saw all three vice-chancellors in attendance: Professor Karen Cox, University of Kent, Professor David Richardson, University of East Anglia and Professor Anthony Foster, University of Essex.
During the conference there were presentations from academics across the institutions including one from Dr Christina Kim, a lecturer in Linguistics at Kent, and a panel discussion hosted by Professor Philippe De Wilde, Kent’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation, considering opportunities to enhance postgraduate training and development across Eastern ARC.
The universities first signed an agreement to work more closely in 2013 as each of them celebrated 50 years as higher education institutions at dates between 2013 and 2015.
Earlier this year the Eastern ARC consortium was awarded £4.7m in funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to establish a network that will support business innovation in Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.