The N8 Research Partnership is a partnership created in 2007 of the eight research-intensive universities in Northern England - Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York. The N8 Research Partnership aims to maximise the impact of this research base by identifying and co-ordinating powerful research teams and collaborations across the North of England. To support the collaborations, N8 creates teams with a critical mass of world class academics. These teams form a network of virtual centres of science and innovation excellence. Collectively, the N8 universities undertake more than £650 million of research income per annum and employ over 18,000 academic staff, thus forming the largest research-pooling partnership ever undertaken in the UK. The N8 Research Partnership also works closely with industry to ensure businesses have an efficient and effective route to access world-class research from these leading universities through a single point in key markets.