Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

Your academic expertise is applied to a specific industry problem to enable companies to form new or improved products or processes. Key points about KTP:

• Each KTP is a three-way partnership between an academic institution, a business and an ‘Associate’, who is typically a recent, highly qualified graduate, often with some industrial experience.
• A KTP can last between 12 – 36 months, depending on the project and the needs of the business.
• The Associate will spend the majority of their time at the business, with regular support from both their the university and company supervisors.
• KTP is a UK-wide programme, part-funded by a grant alongside a defined contribution from the business (SMEs contribute 33% and large companies 50%).
• The overall programme budget includes provision for equipment, consumables, travel and subsistence, along with a development budget for the Associate.
• Find out more on the KTP UK website

The university has been involved in a number of successful KTPs and we encourage our academics to use this programme as a way to engage with industry. RIS can help you:

• identify an industrial partner
• draft and submit an application
• recruit an Associate
• manage project deliverables and reporting

All calls are now "open" and no longer sector specific.

To find out more, contact our Consultancy Manager or the relevant Research Development Manager for your School.

Management KTPs

The programme runs alongside the original Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme and works in the same way as a traditional KTP.  The main difference being that it focuses specifically on management-based projects, aiming to increase effectiveness and improve results through better management practices.

Management KTPs should seek to support the identification and implementation of business change across the full range of management and business skills, including:

• strategic and operational management (including effective monitoring, targets, incentives and operations)
• employment relations and management, including use of incentives
• organisational psychology
• marketing
• accounting
• finance
• logistics

In order to deliver business change, the project should also address the development of appropriate management skills within the business’ leadership, which may include:

• monitoring and target setting
• communication and motivation
• organisation, resource planning and strategic thinking
• problem-solving and decision-making
• commercial awareness
• coaching and mentoring

Innovate UK provides a 67% grant towards the project cost of a MKTP for small and medium-sized businesses with the SME covering the remaining 33 per cent. Management KTP projects can last between 12 months to three years.

Dates and deadlines

You can find the dates for upcoming KTP submission rounds on the gov.uk website