Bids are invited from UK universities interested in setting up two new Innovation and Knowledge Centres to promote the early commercialisation of research. The centres must combine research with the business development, market analysis, commercialisation skills and partnerships to accelerate exploitation.
Two UK research councils, the EPSRC and the BBSRC, along with the Technology Strategy Board, are behind the scheme, which will put about GBP 9.5 million over 5 years into each centre. Universities have been invited to express an interest in hosting one of the centres.
The formation of the centres follows two pilot schemes at Cambridge University in advanced manufacturing technologies for photonics and electronics, and the Optic Technium centre in North Wales in ultra precision and structured surfaces. These centres were reviewed by a panel of experts recently and shown to be having a significant impact in accelerating commercial exploitation of emerging fields of research.
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