The Eastern Academic Research Consortium, or "Eastern Arc", is a regional research collaboration between the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

, the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

, the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

and the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

. The four partner institutions are all part of the "plate glass universities" established in the 1960s. The establishment of Eastern Arc was recognised by Harrison, Smith and Kinton (2015) as part of the 'new regionalisation of UK higher education.'

First Iteration: 2013-19

In its first iteration Eastern Arc focussed on three themes to encourage interdicsdiplinary collaboration between its members. Each university acted as the academic lead in one of the three areas. EasternArc

The three themes

* Digital Humanities was led by the

. * Quantitative Social Science was led by the

. * Synthetic Biology was led by the

Leads and fellows

Each of the themes was led by a permanent academic at each university, and a fellow was appointed on a five-year contract to work with them, meaning that there were nine early career researchers funded across Eastern Arc

Studentships

Within Digital Humanities and Quantitative Social Sciences there were two students at each university; in Synthetic Biology there were three.

Networks and funding

During its first iteration, Eastern Arc was involved in a number of funded projects and networks, including Enabling Innovation: Research to Application (EIRA) (funded by

Research England Research England is a part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) that oversees the functions of UKRI in relation to university research and knowledge transfer in England. This includes: * providing funding to English universities for rese ...

), the Business and Local Government Data Research Centre (funded by the

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

), and the Thames Estuary Production Corridor (funded by the

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. I ...

(DCMS)). It was also part of three doctoral training partnerships: * Advanced Research and Innovation in the Environmental Sciences (ARIES), funded by the

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

. Other members are:

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

. * Consortium of the Humanities and the Arts South-east England (CHASE), funded by the

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts a ...

. Other members are: Birkbeck,

Goldsmiths A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and serviceable ...

Courtauld Courtauld is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Courtauld Butler or Adam Butler (British politician), DL (1931–2008), British Conservative Party politician and MP *Augustine Courtauld (1904–1959), often called August Cou ...

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

SOAS The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. * South East Network for Social Sciences (SeNSS), funded by the

. Other members are:

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, sharing its SW15 postcode with neighbouring Putney and Kingston Vale, and takes up a far western strip, running north to south, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large counc ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Second Iternation: 2020-onwards

In 2019 Phil Ward was appointed as the consortium's first director. He developed a strategy for 2020-25 that continued to focus on developing interdisciplinary collaborations, but moved away from the three pillars of the first iteration, focusing instead on four themes that were identified as collective strengths of the three universities through mapping field-weighted citation impact, REF2014 outcomes, grant capture and a number of other qualitative data. At the centre of the strategy were three objectives: * to develop a strong collaborative core within its themes * to support experimental, risk-taking activity. * to engage with external policy-makers and end-users.

The University of Sussex joins the consortium

In January 2024 the University of Sussex joined the Consortium. As with original three members, Sussex was one of the seven original

plate glass universities A plate glass university or plateglass university is one of a group of universities in the United Kingdom established or promoted to university status in the 1960s. The original plate glass universities were established following decisions by ...

, and shared their radical foundation principles of interdisciplinarity and being 'disruptive by design'. Their membership necessitated the signing of a new memorandum of understanding, which extended the remit of the Consortium 'to support research, education, innovation, knowledge exchange, training, and equipment-sharing.'

Strategy 2025-30

Sussex's membership coincided with the development and launch of the Consortium's next five year strategy, the vision of which was 'to collaborate to deliver real, tangible and positive change in four areas that both define our region and impact the world: coast, food, heritage and sanctuary.' The pillars of activity for the strategy build on the original three objectives: * To enable and facilitate collaboration * To support a positive research culture * To advocate on behalf of its members and wider region.

References

{{University associations and groupings in the United Kingdom College and university associations and consortia in the United Kingdom East of England Organizations established in 2013 Research organisations in the United Kingdom Science policy in the United Kingdom University of East Anglia University of Essex University of Kent 2013 establishments in England