The research that universities undertake in many subjects is of enormous importance in driving innovation and growth.

While the creative disciplines are flourishing with over 3,300 research active staff employed across the North the research they undertake could be more widely disseminated and used within the sector.

Among the 1400 ‘impact studies’ submitted by our 29 universities to the last Research Excellence Framework audit there are many telling studies of creative activity affecting a very wide range of outcomes, from health and wellbeing, to placemaking and economic development.

Cultural organisations drawing on this resource can find evidence that justifies their practice or encourages them to revise it, that persuades funders to support them, and helps them to commission and manage their own research.

In March 2017 Professor Chris Bailey was commissioned by Culture Forum North to design a Research Catalogue that can become a sustainable and growing resource for the higher education and culture community. Following an audit of REF 2014 outputs we contacted university leads for advice on accessible research publications that would support the work of the cultural sector.

Organisations are encouraged to add further items to the catalogue by emailing a summary in the format used below to cultureforumnorth@leeds.ac.uk.

The audit was informed by a discussion paper in 2016.