Page content

Ulster is a signatory of the SDG Accord and recognises that as a higher education institution, we are in a unique position to support the Sustainable Development Goals.

Collaboration and working with partners is key to addressing global sustainability concerns. We work with businesses, the public sector, charities and research organisations to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.


Economy and Partnerships

Knowledge Transfer Partnership

We offer a range of services designed to help businesses grow and become more competitive. A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is a three-way partnership between a business, a university, and a high-calibre graduate known as an associate, that offers a company a chance to collaborate on a business opportunity, idea or innovation to help the business gain the knowledge and capability it needs.

Consultancy

We use consultancy as a practical way to put our knowledge and expertise to work for the benefit of business and the wider community and have provided innovative business solutions to over 1500 clients locally and internationally in the past 5 years, generating £7 million in consultancy income.

The Economic Policy Centre

The Economic Policy Centre undertakes a range of strategic consultancy projects for public and private sector clients.

The following projects are currently ongoing:

  • Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) – ongoing research relationship – Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Dashboard, UK industrial strategy 2017 response
  • National Centre for Universities and Businesses (NCUB) – smart specialisation hub
  • Newry, Mourne and Down District Council – Brexit
  • PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – global cities and cities of opportunity

Society and Partnerships

PURE Research Portal

Ulster's research portal PURE, helps researchers demonstrate the ways in which we support the UN SDGs.

Research Outputs and individual researcher PURE profiles are linked to the SDGs.

Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland

The Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI) is an alliance of universities, health organisations and other industry bodies and aims to act as a single voice for the Life & Health Sciences sector with a focus on promoting LHS capabilities in Northern Ireland.

Community Engagement Team

The Community Engagement Team actively seeks to build and engage in sustainable community partnerships with the primary aim of positively influencing individuals and communities across the region. The team actively supports

Transitional Justice Institute (TJI)

Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) is a world-leading law-led multidisciplinary research centre focusing on transitional justice - how societies deal with the transition from conflict or oppression - human rights, gender, international law, peace and conflict.

International Conflict Research Institute

The School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences has a strong reputation as a centre of excellence for research and analysis in the areas of governance, policy and professional practice, particularly in the context of divided societies.

Primarily, the research is organised through our globally recognised International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE). Established in 1993, and celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2018.

The research at INCORE, and at the school more broadly is highly interdisciplinary in nature and draws on a broad range of expertise that spans criminology, community work, governance, peace-making, political science, public administration, public policy, restorative practice, social policy, sociology, social work and youth work.

Environment and Partnerships

Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE)

A  joint research project with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) will assess how electrical heating, energy storage and smart control technologies could create new business and ownership models for flexible heat demand in 10 NIHE-owned homes.

Safeguarding the security and stability of renewable energy

Ulster University has been awarded a prestigious research grant for a major study into safeguarding the security and stability of renewable energy supply across the island of Ireland.

Funded by the Department for the Economy under the Science Foundation Ireland Investigators Programme Partnership, Ulster University researchers will work in partnership with University College Dublin.

The aim of the research is to explore the extent to which variable renewable energy, especially wind energy, can generate a stable electricity source to meet the needs of the population.

SolaFin2Go

We have  developed an off-grid energy access project in Botswana, which has the potential to transform standards of living for people in Sub-Sahara Africa.  The pilot ‘SolaFin2Go’ field trial is the first of its kind and invests in eliable, affordable and secure distributed energy solutions for communities with unreliable or no grid connectivity.

Alex Begg & Co

Students from Textile Art, Design and Fashion are collaborating with Alex Begg & Co in Ayr Scotland and the Social Enterprise Maker & Producer from Glasgow.

The students use the waste woven material from Alex Begg & Co's weaving mill to come up with new fashion and textile design concepts to utilise this waste product and upcycle it into manufactured outfits.