Knowledge transfer programme at UCL Arts & Humanities
28 January 2008
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A new programme of knowledge transfer is beginning in UCL Arts & Humanities. Academics from the faculty will be providing training and consultancy to professionals from across the industry - offering unique and unexplored perspectives on a range of issues by drawing on knowledge and expertise gained through their research and teaching.
The knowledge transfer programme, supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, enables organisations to benefit from the unique insights that academia can provide. The cross-disciplinary skills and knowledge contained within a university such as UCL are often not found within businesses, yet can provide valuable alternative perspectives on a range of business issues.
Working thematically, experts in a range of arts and humanities disciplines lead workshops with senior executives, enabling them to think differently about their roles. At a seminar about leadership, for example, presentations are being given on leadership as performance through a look at Shakespeare's Henry V, and how to implement effective leadership by examining Machiavelli's ideas. Access to scholarly knowledge of these figures can provide valuable insights into today's business world. In facilitating this exchange, the knowledge transfer programme helps senior businesspeople gain access to some of the best research available, whilst also providing academics with opportunities to have a greater impact on some of society's key leaders.
The programme will be initiated on Wednesday 30 January, at 5pm in the Cruciform Lecture Theatre 2, with a lecture by Professor Maurice Biriotti, an expert on knowledge transfer. In 1996 Professor Biriotti established a consultancy business, SHM Productions Ltd, to help organisations in the public and private sector achieve change through the appreciation of human motivation. During his academic career he held posts at the universities of Cambridge, Birmingham and Zurich, publishing work on literature, philosophy, anthropology and cultural change. This background has fed into the success of SHM, which has worked with the NHS, General Medical Council, the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health, the Central Office of Information and London Underground, as well as private sector clients including Unilever, Diageo and DHL.
To find out more, follow the links at the top of this item.