University of York and its peers across Yorkshire are calling on local businesses to take advantage of the provision of an extra $40m in government funding for knowledge transfer.
University of York is set to benefit from an additional £30m ($40m) in funding provided by the government’s knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) scheme for the 2017-2018 financial year.
The university led a call with its regional peers – which number 12 higher education institutions in Yorkshire and the Humber – for local businesses to join the initiative.
KTPs enable companies to work with university researchers and academics to glean insights into growing their businesses, while providing an employment destination for skilled graduates of participating institutions.
The scheme started 40 years ago and is now run by government-owned economic development agency Innovate UK along with its affiliate Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN).
Jo Johnson, minister of state for universities, unveiled the £30m earlier this month to generate more than 200 “innovation” roles for post-graduates. The cash came from the £23bn National Productivity Investment Fund for high-value projects.
While 80% of KTPs run in association with small and medium-sized enterprises, agreements also exist with larger corporates, including luxury car maker Rolls-Royce and retailer Sainsbury’s.
York will host a KTP conference on November 23 and 24, featuring keynote speakers such as Ruth McKernan, chief executive of Innovate UK, and Ceri Williams, director of innovation and enterprise at University of Leeds.
McKernan said: “I am really excited to attend this year’s KTP conference in York. We have 40 years of data which shows how fantastic KTPs are and the real difference they can make to businesses by increasing knowledge exchange from our universities.
“The government sees this and have provided £30m additional funding, for this year, to massively increase the size of the scheme and provide us with many more success stories in the future.”
