The University of Strathclyde is building a three-part escalator to move people and technologies between its labs and UK companies, turning EPSRC-funded research into commercial products. This matters because university research often stays in the university. Companies—especially small and medium-sized ones—struggle to access cutting-edge science, and academics lack routes to test their ideas in the real world. The project addresses that gap by creating structured pathways for engagement. If successful, the escalator could accelerate the transfer of research into sectors like power and energy, chemical and biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, defence, electronics, communications, and healthcare. Companies would move from low-level contact to strategic partnerships, using mechanisms such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, proof-of-concept funds, and internships. Staff would gain formal training in knowledge transfer up to Masters level, and the university would permanently embed a culture that rewards exploitation activity. The project is not fundamental science—it is an institutional intervention. Its impact will be measured in how many businesses adopt university technologies, how many spin-outs form, and whether the university’s processes for knowledge exchange become permanent rather than project-based.
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The Strathclyde KT Escalator consists of three linked programmes of activities to escalate company and academic engagement in research exploitation around our EPSRC portfolio through transitions between companies and the university of people and technologies.In order to strengthen our culture of EPSRC research exploitation, we will provide targeted internal training and venturing opportunities. These opportunities will be open to companies and will be designed to be SME inclusive. Escalator activities will play to the strengths of our EPSRC portfolio aligned to key sectors: Power and Energy, Chemical and Biotechnology, Advance Manufacturing and Defence, Electronics and Communications, and Healthcare, and has flexibility to enable us to offer research exploitation to companies in emerging areas of our research portfolio in for example Management Science: The three linked programmes are described in brief below:? Company Escalator for relevant UK businesses. Based on detailed user feedback from Strathclydes many industrial research partners and our highly commended CTAs industrial collaborative partners, we have designed a flexible managed programme to maximise meaningful exploitation by companies. Businesses will be escalated from an Emergent level via a Managed level to a strategic Framework level of engagement with our EPSRC portfolio using a range of exploitation mechanisms such as classic Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, new Research Exploitation Partnerships, Proof of Concept Accelerator funds and internships? People Escalator that will escalate people (EPSRC funded staff and escalator company staff) from entry-level KT activity to full exploitation capability, including Knowledge transfer and Innovation Training (KIT) from CPD up to Masters level, company start-ups based on EPSRC IPR portfolios with mentoring support from Entrepreneurs in residence; ? Culture Escalator that will embed appreciation of our user organisations priorities in University thinking (and vice versa) and change institutional structures and processes permanently to ensure that KT culture change is embedded through reward and recognition of KT activity and additional organisational support for research exploitation.Through these planned programmes of partnership activities stimulating and facilitating two-way knowledge exchange with large companies and SMEs, we aim to provide an excellent basis for comparative analysis of varying methods for KT and development of potentially novel approaches that better integrate University teams with clusters of corporates, large and small, within different sectors.
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