Working with industry, commercialisation and IP

Research and Innovation Services can support you with all aspects of working with industry, from helping to shape and structure research collaborations which benefit both industry and the academic partners, to simpler ‘fee-for-service' arrangements.

The University is strongly connected to numerous industry partners. Our partnerships range from collaborating with most of the major pharmaceutical companies across the globe to local SMEs. We have flagship industry consortia arrangements, such as the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy, to local partnerships with companies such as Rautomead.

Research and Innovation Services can support you establishing and building strong relationships by helping you:

• understand industry needs
• match your expertise and knowledge to current industry challenges and real-world problems
• support your collaborative research, from facilitating the right introductions, to providing on-going post-agreement support to ensure longevity in your partnerships.
• identify and engage with potential partners
• find commercial applications of your research
• broker and negotiate commercial and contractual terms
• price of industrial contracts
• create consultancy and service arrangements
• protect intellectual property
• identify academia-business funding opportunities such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) or via Interface

Commercialisation of your research outcomes

Commercialising of your research usually occurs through research collaborations, licensing or formation of a spin out company.  The basis of commercialising is usually the protection of your Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and we ask you to speak to us as early as possible in the process to support you on identifying and understanding these.

Research collaborations

Research collaborations with industry allow the transfer of knowledge to take place effectively between the partners and the industry partner usually has the first option to commercialise the results from a collaboration. Research and Innovation Services will ensure that the partnership and commercial arrangements work for both parties and allow benefit back to the University.

Licensing

Licensing your intellectual property rights to an existing or established company allows industry to translate innovative research from the laboratory to the market-place. By licensing our technologies, companies access cutting edge research to produce new products, processes or services that will give them a competitive edge.

Forming a spin out company

Forming a new company can be the most effective route to commercialise research where your research has clear potential to generate products or services. A spin out company is based on University IPR generated by academic staff and RIS actively supports researchers through the process from market research and business planning to engaging with investors.

The first step to commercialisation is often filling in an Invention Disclosure Form which we ask you to do as early as possible in the journey or to contact us for a discussion.

• Invention Disclosure Form
  
  Microsoft Word document, requires University login