Prosper with a business-academic partnership: apply for funding
A Knowledge Transfer Partnership could help you collaborate with a university, research organisation or highly qualified graduate.
A share of £40 million is available through the KTP programme.
Businesses can apply for a share of up to £40 million take part in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).
The programme helps promote competitiveness and turn academic thinking into commercial products and services.
The government announced in its 2018 Budget that £25 million will be committed to expand the KTP scheme. This will create more than 200 places for additional graduates and academics within innovative companies throughout the coming years.
Creating viable products and services
KTPs offer funding and support to pair UK businesses and graduates to work on innovative projects.
Businesses can either build on an existing relationship or begin a new partnership with a university, college or research and technology organisation, working with a Knowledge Transfer Advisor to set this up.
Projects can focus on any technology or industry area, and last between 1 to 3 years.
KTP applications must:
- focus on a specific project
- set out the nature and goals of the project
- give details of who will take part
- establish what the graduate will be expected to deliver
Best of the best
The KTP Best of the Best awards returned after a 5-year hiatus to celebrate some of the most innovative and exceptional outcomes from the KTP programme.
5 awards were given, celebrating engineering excellence, business impact and future innovation among others. These were in sectors as diverse as the creation of new polymers and tunnel monitoring using AI and deep learning to more comfortable footwear in the workplace and satellite systems with new threat detection systems.
Programme information
- applications for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships are open throughout the year
- the deadline for applications for this round is 29 May 2019. If an application misses a deadline it will automatically be entered into the next round
- projects can last between 1 to 3 years
- businesses and not-for-profit organisations of any size can apply
- the size of the grant and own contribution can vary. Typically:
- small and medium-sized businesses can contribute around £35,000 per year, or around one-third of the project costs
- large businesses contribute about £55,000 per year, or half of the project costs