Business-University partnership: what is in it for me?

Guest blog by the Business Development Team at Aston University, Birmingham

Dr Sinziana Irimia

Business Development Manager, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham

Aston University, a leading institution in the West Midlands, is ranked among the best in the world for business and management. We are driven by real world research impact and are a sector leader for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), a government funding scheme aimed at businesses to innovate by transferring and embedding new capabilities. This article provides an overview of how the academic world can support companies to evolve and grow, offering practical benefits that are of significant importance in today’s business landscape.

The UK is a global leader in innovation [1], being uniquely positioned in Europe to harness the technologies that will shape global businesses in the next decade [2]. Despite recent geopolitical (Brexit Europe and Middle East wars) and health-related (Covid-19) disruptions, businesses have shown resilience, with innovation emerging as a key survival skill. The rapid evolution of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and gene therapy to name a few, is creating a competitive environment, but also a wealth of opportunities to outpace rivals.

In today’s multidisciplinary VUCA (Volatility-Uncertainty-Complexity-Ambiguity) world, the coordination between the numerous actors playing in the innovation landscape is extremely challenging as requiring strategic view alignment, capabilities, complementarity and timing. Innovation requires resources and time to invest in new processes, services or products which is a challenge on its own. But can academia help your business to innovate and grow?

There are significant challenges to overcome in what is commonly known as the 'valley of death' (a term used to describe the difficult transition from research to commercialization, as shown in the figure below). This is where fundamental research carried out by universities and research centres can find a route to the real world through scaling-up and commercialisation, usually an industry prerogative. A business-academia partnership is mutually beneficial by translating innovative ideas into real-world solutions, while opening new funding and collaboration opportunities, and also driving technological and socio-economic growth.

A solution for companies to overcome technical challenges is to tap into the expertise of universities. The exchange of knowledge between academia and industry can be a cost-effective and time-efficient way to develop new products or services, maximizing the return on R&D and innovation investment. There are various collaboration routes, from direct contracts to academic research council grants, student-led projects, or government-subsidized R&D programs like Innovate UK. Project subsidies can mitigate the risk of new initiatives, and by involving universities in R&D projects, companies can access missing skills, knowledge, and facilities.

Aston University, a leading institution in the West Midlands, is ranked 25th in the UK [3] and tops its cluster quintile for 'working with businesses’ [4]. This significant contribution to the business-led consortia we joined underscores our commitment to successful partnerships.

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is a government scheme which has been around for almost 50 years and it is an excellent collaborative mechanism to support innovative businesses growth. Under this scheme, a business can apply for up to 67% of the project costs to be covered by the government. The KTP project aims at addressing a strategic business need by introducing new capabilities that an academic institution can provide. Aston University is a sector leading KTP provider, with our team winning the Best Support Team and Best KTP Project at 2023 Innovate UK Awards. These types of projects have an average of 1000% ROI, demonstrating the significant return on investment. You can have a look at some of our case studies across various technology fields here. Under the KTP scheme, a business would have access to cutting-edge facilities and world-leading expertise, opening avenues to new ambitious and impactful projects at a fraction of the full cost.

Do you have a problem or technical challenge where academic expertise can help? Collaborating with Aston University could be the fastest and most cost-effective way to grow your business. Contact us to find out more; we would like to hear from you!

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