Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Part of the cost of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is funded by a grant from the innovation agency Innovate UK, and other government co-funders. You apply for this in a competitive call for submissions.
For Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises the grant rate is 67% of the project cost and for large companies 50%. The remainder of the project cost is met by monthly cash payments from your company.
Project costs are variable. For a small or medium size company, government bodies, such as Innovate UK, contribute two-thirds of the cost.
For a typical project, Oxford Brookes University offers a cost-effective opportunity to engage in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). Your company can make a modest investment per year to embed a recent graduate (KTP Associate) in your organisation, supported by senior academics and the extensive resources of our university. This collaboration brings new capabilities and the potential for wealth creation.
Businesses that participate in KTPs experience significant benefits, with the potential for notable increases in pre-tax profit. KTPs provide a platform for driving innovation, enhancing productivity, and achieving substantial financial growth.
| Employer Size | Funding Rate | Employer contribution (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Third Sector | 75% | £22-25k per year |
| SME | 67% | £28-33k per year |
| Large Business | 50% | £43-48k per year |
A successful KTP provides a rich source of innovation stories, data and testimonial to help showcase your success and raise the profile of the company or the professional standing of the academic.
As a business, KTP projects can provide a wealth of intriguing news stories, video clips and other content to add to the company’s marketing assets and engage the customer.
As an academic, groundbreaking research offers the opportunity not just to write academic papers but to collect real-world case study information for teaching purposes, as well as submissions for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the much-anticipated Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), and University website. All of this helps raise the standing of the project within the relevant research community and maybe contribute to potential joint public speaking opportunities.
Plan to capture information for marketing use, at each key step of the journey. Think in terms of quantitative data and qualitative, visual and written assets. For example:
- Photographs - before and after if there is a visual change, but also of key personnel, the main entrance of the building and labs or company offices you are working in.
- Video – capture key moments of breakthrough or change, and interviews with personnel from the CEO to the graduate associate. This could be filmed on a smartphone (landscape style).
- Testimonial – capture written comments about how the problem has been solved or innovation achieved.
- Data – think not just about benchmarking the project but capture fun facts pertinent to the project – maybe about the amounts of raw materials used in a process or the number of hours spent brainstorming.
Oxford Brookes University is committed to sharing expertise and translating our knowledge into practical, commercial responses to real-world business challenges and this in turn increases our fund of knowledge as a University. Work undertaken through KTPs contributes to the University’s academic outputs including research papers and enriching teaching by providing in-depth, live case studies or access to industry partners and experts.
Knowledge Transfer Partnership benefits for Oxford Brookes University include:
- Increasing our fund of knowledge
- Creating strategic relationships with innovative business partners
- Producing new research papers and giving real-world case studies for our teaching
- Bringing valuable research income and helping identify contemporary research themes
- Bringing experience of applying knowledge and expertise to real-world problems
- Contributing to our evidence for the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
We champion KTPs through our Research and Business Development Office. We discuss with businesses the challenges they face and identify the best academic team to help. We engage expert thinkers and innovative specialists who are pleased to embrace problem-solving.
Oxford Brookes University will work in partnership with you to develop a successful KTP application and manage the project from start to completion – ensuring a long-term boost to your organisation. We are on hand throughout the project and will work with you:
- to help scope out the idea,
- find an academic partner,
- cost the project and create your grant application.
Furthermore, we will help you agree strategic objectives and benchmarks, and handle review meetings to help you shape and manage your project and deliver it on time.
Take the first steps to explore a KTP opportunity with Oxford Brookes. We’ll work with you to develop a successful KTP application, recruit your KTP graduate, and partner with you to boost your business.
