Knowledge Exchange is a Piece of CAKE

Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) Congress 2025 Knowledge Exchange is a Piece of CAKE Session report Session date: 22 October 2025 Session Chair & Report Author: Eleanor Broadway (e.broadwa[email protected]) Report date: November 12, 2025 Contents 1 Session Summary 2 2 Detailed Session Information 2 2.1 Abstract .......................................... 2 2.2 Agenda........................................... 3 2.3 Introduction to CAKE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.3.1 Placements and Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.3.2 Knowledge Exchange Fellows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.3.3 Knowledge Exchange Retreats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.4 Spotlight on DRI Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.5 Building a NetworkPlus Project Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.6 The Great Knowledge Exchange Bake-Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.6.1 The Missing Ingredients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.6.2 Hot (off the press) cakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.6.3 (d)Rocky Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.6.4 Hot (off the press) cakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1 1 Session Summary The Knowledge Exchange is a Piece of CAKE! session began by introducing the participants to Computational Abilities Knowledge Exchange (CAKE), a NetworkPlus designed to strengthen collaboration and knowledge exchange across the UK DRI community. CAKE connects people and projects through a central hub, website, and community platforms, making DRI activities more visible and coordinated. Participants heard about CAKE’s flexible funding opportunities (placements and visits, knowledge exchange Fellows, and knowledge exchange retreats), all of which have been designed to reduce barriers to effective knowledge exchange and to foster sustainable collaboration. The CAKEbox resource and CAKE-CoSeC EDI Working Group were also highlighted as key tools for sharing best practices and promoting inclusion. The session featured spotlight talks from current DRI projects (SHAREing, CaSDaR, and CHARTED) and a presentation on building a NetworkPlus community, emphasising coordination and communication across DRI projects to address shared challenges. It concluded with the Great Knowledge Exchange Bake-Off, where participants discussed challenges and devised creative solutions for improving collaboration and engagement. Key discussion themes focused on improving diversity, communication, and the sustainability of community connections, while broadening participation in funding opportunities 2 Detailed Session Information 2.1 Abstract The Computational Abilities Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) NetworkPlus is a central hub for facilitating knowledge exchange and sustainable collaboration across the UK DRI communities. By bringing projects together, CAKE enables participants to share successes, highlight achievements and explore how to work more effectively together, leveraging each other’s expertise. We provide resources that remove barriers preventing effective knowledge exchange: we take care of best practices, tools and resources, so you can focus on connecting, collaborating and driving progress. This interactive session will provide a space for practical discussion, collaboration across projects and community building. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences, positive actions, and best practices around common challenges faced by the DRI community; from sustainability and inclusivity to collaboration and professional development. By the end of the session, participants will have had the chance to share challenges that affect them and their communities and exchange practical solutions. Insights from the discussions will be disseminated through CAKEbox (the CAKE knowledge hub), making them available to the broader community. Join us to share your slice of knowledge and help shape a stronger, more connected UK DRI ecosystem. 2 2.2 Agenda Time Activity Presenter 15 min Introduction to CAKE Eleanor Broadway 15 min Spotlight on DRI Projects: SHAREing Tobias Weinzierl CaSDaR Louise Saul CHARTED Weronika Filinger 15 min Building a NetworkPlus Project Community Jeremy Cohen 25 min The Great Knowledge Exchange Bake-Off Eleanor Broadway 20 min Discussions Eleanor Broadway 2.3 Introduction to CAKE CAKE is a NetworkPlus designed to strengthen collaboration and knowledge exchange across the DRI landscape. While DRI has acquired a huge body of knowledge, this is often not well connected across the UK and sharing is uncoordinated, resulting in missed opportunities, missed collaborations and missed value that could be added to investments. CAKE address this challenge by connecting people and projects, fostering a stronger sense of community across disciplines and institutions, and enhancing the visibility of UK DRI work both within the community but also more widely to emerging areas and international partners. This is, in part, delivered in the form of a central hub that includes a website (cake.ac.uk), landscape of the DRI projects, events schedule, social media and mailing lists. The hub serves as a one-stop platform, enabling network members to discover who is in the community and what activities and projects are going on. In addition, CAKE aims to collect and coordinate best practices and resources to support the community in delivering key activities such as communication, recruitment and reviewing. CAKEbox (cake.ac.uk/CAKEbox) serves as a knowledge exchange hub, populated with community-driven contributions and signposts to useful resources. This is the public home of the CAKE-CoSeC Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Working Group, a collaboration launched to deliver practical recommendations for embedding EDI principles, gathering evidence and case studies and to address ongoing challenges within the community. As a NetworkPlus, CAKE also provides flexible funding resources to support the community in conducting effective knowledge exchange. 2.3.1 Placements and Visits This programme reduces barriers to collaboration by funding opportunities for participants to work together on specific projects. It was designed to support long-term collaborations both within the UK and internationally, with a flexible framework to accommodate virtual participation, matchmaking for collaborators, and inclusion of diverse participants who may fall outside traditional schemes. This call is currently open, with a rolling review deadline. 2.3.2 Knowledge Exchange Fellows CAKE plans to appoint 25 KE Fellows over three years, each receiving £4,000 to champion knowledge exchange within their communities. The Fellows will act as conduits between communities and play 3 a key role in shaping and sustaining CAKE’s priorities. Calls are open every six months, with the current round closing in November, ready to welcome the first cohort in the new year. 2.3.3 Knowledge Exchange Retreats Inspired by successful academic retreat models, these retreats focus on output-driven discussions around community-suggested topics. The CAKE team handles logistics, allowing participants to focus on collaboration and idea exchange. 2.4 Spotlight on DRI Projects A key part of CAKE is to highlight the people and projects that make up the DRI landscape, improving visibility, sharing knowledge, and showcasing opportunities for collaboration. As part of this session, we hosted a series of spotlight talks on current DRI projects. These talks provided an opportunity for presenters to share their motivations, purpose, and key focus areas, as well as highlight challenges they have encountered and solutions they are exploring. The talks aimed to inspire discussion and identify opportunities for collaboration across the DRI community. The projects showcased were: • SHAREing - Skills Hub for Accelerated Research Environment, Inspiring the Next Generation (https://shareing-dri.github.io/) • CaSDaR - Careers and Skills for Data-driven Research (https://casdar.ac.uk/) • CHARTED - Connecting Hub for advancing RTP talent enabling DRI (https://drtp-skills.ac.uk) For a broader overview of the DRI landscape, participants are encouraged to visit the CAKE catalogue, which provides a comprehensive overview of current projects and initiatives: https://www.cake.ac.uk/ 2.5 Building a NetworkPlus Project Community Following the spotlight talks on DRI projects, Jeremy Cohen delivered a presentation titled Building a NetworkPlus Project Community. His talk highlighted the importance of fostering a collaborative culture across the increasingly complex DRI landscape, which has expanded significantly due to recent investments. Among these investments are a series of NetworkPlus projects, funded to bring communities together, promote collaboration, and distribute flexible funding resources to the community. In this landscape, there are many opportunities for engagement and collaboration. CAKE exists, in part, to facilitate knowledge exchange by providing a central coordinating entity to advertise project activities and funding calls, conduct outreach, and support collaboration across the DRI community. Jeremy emphasised that for this coordination to be successful and impactful, it also requires a broader, sustained effort from the community itself. Efforts to coordinate knowledge exchange are already underway. In May 2025, Jeremy hosted a meeting at Imperial College London bringing together representatives from each of the recently funded DRI NetworkPlus projects. The aim of this meeting was to build awareness of project aims and plans, share ideas, and discuss expected challenges. One key outcome was the recognition of the need for regular communication. CAKE is now undertaking this coordination by running recurring meetings for representatives from DRI projects, providing a platform to maintain communication and a coordinated, effective community. 4 2.6 The Great Knowledge Exchange Bake-Off Participants then divided into smaller groups to discuss common challenges and barriers faced when exchanging knowledge. Each group identified a common challenge to discuss, then worked together to bake a solution to this challenge by identifying ingredients, a recipe/method and a serving suggestion. Key discussion themes included: • Engaging with more diverse communities. • Outreach and communication. • Sustainability of community connections. • Expanding the remit of who is applying for funding. 2.6.1 The Missing Ingredients Challenge: Including communities and fields outside traditional Russell Group university science and computing. Ingredients • DRTP career pathways to show opportunities beyond traditional routes • Inclusive job descriptions for diverse talent • Access to HPC for smaller institutions • Awareness and outreach Method • Include communities in shaping conversations • Target funding calls for research facilitators • Access to HPC for smaller institutions to reduce barriers • Encourage partnerships between traditional and non-traditional institutions Serving Suggestion • Serve at networking events, workshops, and strategic planning sessions. • Best enjoyed with visible impact stories and shared successes, so more communities see themselves represented. 2.6.2 Hot (off the press) cakes Challenge: Getting the right information to the right people at the right time. Ingredients • Knowing who the people are, what they need and when. • Timely engagement: understanding when people are ready to receive information and feedback timing • Proper inputs - accurate, relevant data, updates and guidance • Meaningful information: Connective topics, projects, objectives, outputs 5 Method • Chat-bot or an automatic notification reminder • Mailing list link top to ensuring it sends the relevant things at the right time • Networking and exploring existing sources (i.e, linkedIn, human ambassador) Serving Suggestion • Fresh bake, right portion size, only when people are hungry 2.6.3 (d)Rocky Road Challenge: Enabling sustainable connections between communities. Ingredients • Zeal and zest - source for engagement • Building community awareness - knowing your people and their needs • Perseverance - relationships take time! • Communication / story-telling • Engagement • Champions • Common language to blend diverse voices • Develop a sense of belonging Method • Add all ingredients, mix and repeat • Give time for it to prove. Relationships take time, patience is part of the recipe. • If it doesn’t work, don’t give up! Rocky roads are meant to be a bit rough around the edges! Serving Suggestion • Serve with a pinch of puns in small bites! 2.6.4 Hot (off the press) cakes Challenge: How do we get more RTPs to apply for funding? Ingredients • Webinar - demystifying applying for funding • Travel grants - for conferences/CPD days • Universities without travel budgets • Impact storytelling • RTP enthusiasm Method • Preheat by teaching RTPs about applying for funding • Run a funding call with impact requirement 6 • Attend great event(s) • Make impact • Capture, share and report on the impact - highlighting the benefit of attending • Support RTPs on showing impact for future training funds locally Serving Suggestion • Serve at departmental meetings, research away days, or KE showcases. • Best enjoyed with fresh ideas, collaboration sprinkles, and a side of well-deserved recognition 7