Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)

KTP is a world-leading programme that helps businesses succeed by connecting them to the UK's rich academic resources. It's a partnership between the business seeking expertise, a university and a recently qualified (post)graduate – known as an Associate.

Transforming your business

Any company can apply. To succeed, your project needs to be strategic and have the potential to transform your business. Your academic partner will provide the expertise and knowledge required to deliver the project. If your application is successful, an associate will work to help bring your plans to life. The associate will work on your site to embed the expertise of the academic team and bring their own skills to deliver a project which could mean anything from introducing new products to changing the company's direction.

Academic expertise

At least one academic will have been nominated to supervise the associate and form part of the team that will deliver the project. The academic has the intellectual firepower to guide and advise an associate whenever required. They can arrange access to test equipment at the University if required. In short, they're a vital part of your team and project.

Funding your project

Your project can last between 12 months and three years. If you're a small or medium-sized business, funding will cover two-thirds of the project cost, leaving an average of around £22,000 a year for your company to pay. If you're part of a larger company, funding will cover around half of the project cost, leaving an average of around £33,000 a year to pay. That's great value, especially as evidence shows that businesses, who invest in R&D, grow twice as fast and have higher exports compared to non-innovators.‌

For more information please contact Laura Hockenhull-Smith

 

Qualifying KTP Details

Important Deadline Dates

 

Forthcoming call end dates 

Deadline date Call
20/09/2017 Infrastrutcure Systems
11/10/2017 Health & Life Sciences
08/11/2017 Emerging and Enabling Tech
17/01/2018 Manufacturing & Materials
07/02/2018 Open Call
14/03/2018 Infrastrutcure Systems

 

What are the benefits for companies?

  • Start a strategic relationship with the University,
  • Find highly qualified people to spearhead new projects,
  • Access expertise to take an organisation forward,
  • Increase profits, knowledge and capability,
  • Devise innovative solutions to help an organisation grow,
  • Develop the capacity and capability to innovate more effectively beyond the life of the KTP.

What are the benefits for academics?

  • Start a strategic relationship with a company,
  • Income counts towards the Knowledge Exchange Income of the University
  • Contribution to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise
  • Develop relevant teaching and research ideas
  • Supervise and act as a mentor for postgraduates working on company-board projects
  • Opportunity for early career researchers to gain supervision experience
  • Publish high-quality journal and conference papers
  • Apply knowledge and expertise to business problems
  • Assist strategic change in business

Opportunities for Associates (graduates)

A KTP is one of the UK’s largest graduate recruitment programmes which provides over 300 graduate job opportunities each year. You will be able to manage and deliver challenging strategic projects for a business, while being supported by the University.  You will be based at the company on a full-time basis but jointly supervised by an academic member of staff for the duration of the project.

Benefits include: 

  • Fast track career development opportunities
  • A competitive salary
  • Employment within chosen academic discipline
  • Working both with academia and industry
  • Training and development opportunities
  • Register for a higher degree during the project
  • Access to a wide range of our facilities including laboratories and library services.

KTP job vacancies are advertised throughout the year. 

AU job vacancies are advertised throughout the year.

 

Who can participate?

  • UK based companies of all sizes from all industrial sectors
  • Charities and not-for-profit organisations
  • Education institutions (e.g. schools)
  • Health organisations (e.g. hospitals and NHS Trusts)
  • Councils and Local Authorities

Restrictions

A KTP may not be appropriate for every business. Very small businesses or very recent start-ups may not have the capacity to provide support for the Associate or the resources to commit to the project. Our KTP team will provide advice and guidance during the early discussions about the project, and will clarify whether the sponsors will be satisfied with the financial viability of your business, to ensure that your time isn’t wasted. If a KTP is not viable the team will discuss and propose alternative options.

To view previous KTP projects, please see the below Portfolio tab where you will also see an example of two full case studies.

 

KTP Portfolio

Company Partner Sector  Partnership Objective
Agroceutical Products Ltd Biosciences To develop and document a set of records and standard operating procedures to enable galanthamine produced from daffodils to meet the regulatory requirements of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.
Biotal Plc Agriculture Development of new lines of feed and forage based additives for feed grains, feed crops, crop residues and conserved crops.
Boomerang Plus plc (now Boom pictures) Creative Industries To investigate 7-11 year old children's television viewing preferences and multi-platform media practices, and create a model for production and delivery of children's television programming.
Dengie Crops Ltd Biosciences To develop, through use of selected fibrolytic enzymes, an alfalfa-based product to target the specific needs of the performance horse market and to determine the effect of the product on other dietary components.
Environment Systems Environmental Science To assess the challenges and opportunities that the RSGISlib and other open source image processing software (i.e. the OS-Geo stack) may bring to a geographical intelligence company in terms of scaling operations and integrating with High Performance Computing for high throughput of data.
Fluid Gravity Engineering Limited ICT Development of a flexible code for modelling gaseous detonations and reactive flows.
Germinal Holdings Ltd  Biosciences To develop a molecular screening package to support the breeding, trialling, validation and marketing of novel grass varieties in the UK and worldwide.
Innovis Limited Agriculture To develop methodologies for grassland management and sheep nutrition, enabling deployment of an innovative novel supply chain model for the UK sheep industry.
Innovis Limited Biosciences To develop new genetic sheep breed improvement and products services utilising DNA technology and to expand these services to include other livestock and domestic animals.
Kaye (Presteigne) Ltd ICT Exploration of how computerised modelling of the aluminium casting process can be made more efficient through the construction of advanced software.
Knitmesh Limited Advanced Materials and Manufacturing To scientifically evaluate a new explosion arrester in order to understand the underlying mechanisms involved, to bring the product to market and to optimise design and further development of arrester products.
Micro Materials Limites Advances Materials and Manufacturing Development and commercialisation of a novel rotating polariser ellipsometer.
Reynolds Geo-sciences Limited Energy and Environment To review and acquire expertise in air/space born remote sensing and GIS within RGSL, thereby allowing the company to monitor, analyse and manage glacial hazards in a more rigorous manner.
Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems (Europe) Limited ICT To design and develop software tools for the efficient analysis and optimisation of new vehicle wiring harness systems, robust product design and reduce design/quotation timescales
Xenova Ltd Biosciences Develop new fermentation techniques for differentiation and sporulation of a unique culture collection of tropical higher fungi in order to isolate novel natural products expressed during development.

Environment Systems Full Case Study

"OSSIE- Open Source Software for Information on the Environment"

Overview

Sponsors

Welsh Government (75%)

Environment Systems (25%)
Knowledge Base Aberystwyth University's Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
KTP Associate Alexandra Elena Mates

Alexandra Elena Mates: As a young graduate, I consider the KTP as a rare, exciting and challenging project as I may not have the opportunity to find again. It was a real pleasure being part of two very friendly commercial and academic groups and I much appreciated the ethos of research, productivity, project management, care for the environment and people.

About this case study

Environment Systems (Aberystwyth, Wales) uses a range of software for processing Remote Sensing imagery that tends to be costly and lacking in flexibility. Company director, Steve Keyworth, had been aware of the developments of the RSGISlib open source image processing library lead by lecturer Pete Bunting at Aberystwyth University Geography Department.

The partnership between the company and knowledge base was formed with the purpose of assessing the challenges and opportunities that the RSGISlib and other open source image processing software (i.e. the OS-Geo stack) may bring to a geographical intelligence company in terms of scaling operations and integrating with High Performance Computing for high throughput of data. The aim of the project was that, by the end of the KTP, the company would be in a position to understand to what extent different software could be integrated into the Environment Systems worlflow, the level of knowledge required from analysts to use these systems, and the financial implications of doing so.

 

Discover more about this KTP project:

Boomerang+ Full case study

"Tween Audiences and Welsh-language Television Production: Impacts on Economic Prosperity and Cultural Life"

Overview

Sponsors

Technology Strategy Board (100%)

Grant amount: £82,585.00
Knowledge Base Aberystwyth University's Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies
KTP Associate

Helen Davies

 

Dafydd Felix-Richards, Chair of Project Committee, Boom Pictures: "As a company working in the creative industries, being involved with this KTP focused and deepened our knowledge and understanding of the demographic, technological and cultural demands of our area of business. Overall, our experience of the project was very rewarding."

About this case study

This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) emerged from an established strategic partnership that the Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies (TFTS) at Aberystwyth University (AU) had with Boomerang+ (now Boom Pictures). Through the partnership with TFTS, the company offered master classes, contributed to academic modules, helped to develop student work, offered work experience opportunities, and supported other initiatives such as projects funded by KESS.

Boomerang+ is one of the largest independent media production companies in Cardiff, and is one of the UK’s most significant producers of original children’s television content. This KTP focused specifically on the Boom Plant (Boom Children) arm of the organisation, and aimed to investigate 7-to 13-year-old (‘tween’) Welsh children's media preferences and practices, to ‘map’ the attitudes of this audience sector in Wales and to create a model for production and delivery of children's television programming.

 

Discover more about this KTP project: