A new laboratory at the University of Liverpool will turn £43 million of EPSRC-funded science into working technologies that companies can actually build and sell. The problem is a persistent gap in UK research: university labs produce excellent fundamental science, but many promising discoveries never become practical devices or processes. The Knowledge Exploitation Laboratory (KEL) is designed to bridge that gap. It will bring together academics, technology users, and the businesses that package science into instruments and products. The lab will raise the technology readiness level of research in molecular materials, advanced engineering, and sensors and monitoring—from a strong understanding of the underlying science to demonstrated, proven technology that industry can confidently adopt. If successful, the KEL could accelerate the journey from lab bench to factory floor for a wide range of innovations. This might mean faster, cheaper sensors for infrastructure monitoring; stronger, lighter materials for engineering; or new molecular-based devices for diagnostics and communications. The lab also aims to ensure that skilled people—not just patents—move between academia and industry, embedding exploitation into the university’s culture. The governance structure, led by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Science and Engineering with external industry representation, is designed to keep projects focused on real-world routes to market.
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The KTA funding will be used to create a Knowledge Exploitation Laboratory (KEL) to exploit 43m of EPSRC funded research in the fields of Molecular Materials (50% of KTA funding), Advanced Engineering (30%) and Sensors and Monitoring (20%). The KEL will bring together technology users, academics and technology suppliers (i.e. businesses who package the science into practical technology such as scientific instrument makers). The KEL will undertake development work so that the technology readiness level is increased so that EPSRC research outputs advance from a strong understanding of the underlying science to proven demonstrated technology that can be confidently appraised by users and technology suppliers alike. The involvement of technology supply chain will focus development work and ensure the critically important personnel flows take place. The KEL will accelerate exploitation by reducing both risks and timescales this is evidenced by the attached letters of support. KTA funds will be used for laboratory space and dedicated personnel .The overall programme has processes for selecting and monitoring project progressto flexibly deploy resources across all projects. The governance process, led by the PVC for Science andEngineering, has external industry representation and is charged with embedding exploitation in the Facultyas well as supervision of the KTA projects themselves. A strong portfolio of initial projects has been identified.Business facing resources will be provided by the HEIF funded Business Gateway team. They will besupported by a Market Operations Manager who will research key industries and application areas to assessexploitation potential and routes to market.
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